Surviving the HIVE
by GhirardelliFan
Summary: It takes a village to raise a child, and Slade will use the entire HIVE Academy to raise Robin into the villain Slade wants him to become. With Robin held captive at the HIVE Academy, new struggles, terrors, and adventures will be found around every corner. No slash.
1. Chapter 1

**This takes place sometime after the first season of Teen Titans. Everything after that (and possibly some before depending on how extreme you are as a reader and fan) is pretty much AU.**

**Please see the end of the chapter for update information, and for now just have fun!**

**Chapter 1: Hero-Relations**

Robin stood in front of City Square of Jump City, mentally preparing himself for the next 24 hours. Standing in the middle of the road, in broad daylight, was a little new for him. Well, it was certainly new when he was wearing full costume and no weapons in his hands. His hands itched toward his empty belt; he felt so exposed.

The four remaining Titans stood behind him, standing in a protective semi-circle around their leader. A large crowd of onlookers stood nearly a hundred feet back, blocked by barricades and armed police officers diligently watching the lines. So many people. Robin thought, breathing deeply in preparation.

"Robin, you don't need to do this." Cyborg commented. Robin winced. He didn't want to do to do this, but Superman had contacted him two weeks ago and asked him to make this small sacrifice for the Justice League. Batman still did not contact him personally, but Robin knew his mentor would benefit the most from Robin's actions today.

Superhero/community relations were tense lately and the Justice League was reaching out a hand to the community to prove they were friends and supporters of the government and people they protected. A small organization of anti-vigilante advocates had risen in the government and had already begun to stir something bitter in a few cities, so now the Justice League was taking active steps to ensure it did not grow to the point of destroying all relations. Protecting the citizens was always harder in a city that did not support its heroes.

It was not a serious threat, the Justice League simply saw smoke and wanted to protect against fire, but that was the reason Robin was asked to make a very public appearance now.

"Robin." Cyborg began again, when Robin didn't say a word. "People love us in Jump City. Nobody sees us as a potential threat here. You really don't need to do this."

"This is about more than Jump City." Robin finally spoke. "Right now, this is about Gotham."

"But you are no longer a part of that world." Starfire finally spoke up. "If Batman wishes to improve relations in his city, he should step forward on his own."

Robin smiled at that, imagining Batman standing before paparazzi, city officials, and over-excited civilians handing out autographs, interviews, and dozens of smiles.

"People still associate Batman and Robin as a team, even with me being in Jump City now." Robin replied. Only a year had gone by since he left Batman's side, and he knew his absence was part of the consternation the Gotham inhabitants had been feeling toward the Dark Knight. Robin needed to show that city that he still supported Batman, that Batman still deserved his and everybody else's trust. "My abrupt departure is part of the fuel that had led the city to believe Batman may be too much threat to allow free. I can rectify that, and help other cities, by sacrificing just a little of myself."

"But you are frightened. Raven said, her voice cool. She could sense his emotions just enough to know he was hiding the fear he truly felt.

Beast Boy snorted. "Frightened? Raven, Robin has fought most of the Gotham villains _and _Slade. He's annoyed about this, not frightened. What are they going to do? Hug him to death?"

Robin really did let out a shiver at that last statement. Yes, he would have to succumb to hugs and kissing babies and all that cute crap he had grown unaccustomed to. He tensed quickly as the doors to the City Center opened and both the Governor and the Mayor walked out to greet them.

_We'r__e making history._ Robin thought, and walked forward to meet them on the steps. The team followed just a few steps behind Robin, allowing him to take the front and center. Truthfully, except for Beast Boy, they were not much more comfortable about this event then Robin was. But even though Robin was the important guest during this event, due to the effect this would hopefully have on Gotham, they needed to be a part of it as well.

"My dearest boy." Mayor Anderson loudly said while shaking Robin's hand warmly. They had met a few times on previous occasions, and Robin found he liked the welcoming man. Most government officials were not quite so warm, but Jump City was a bright enough city that the people still elected men like him. "We're so glad you agreed to participate in this event, I do believe the entire state population is in Jump City today!"

Robin nodded, smiling brightly for the cameras flashing in his eyes. He turned as Governor Aldez, a man not quite so known for his cheerful nature, stepped forward next. The smile was not quite as genuine as Mayor Anderson, but Robin knew it wasn't personal. This man was simply more aware of the nature of this occasion; he was taking this occasion and its implications very seriously.

"Thank you Mayor. Thank you Governor. My team and I have been looking forward to this for weeks now." _Genuine._ Robin thought, keeping his bright smile plastered on his face. _I must be genuine, even in my head. The people will see right through this faca__de if my body language does not match my words._ Heeding these thoughts, Robin turned to the paparazzi and citizens and waved briskly and with a large grin on his face.

"Well, before the events begin, do you want to say a few words?" Governor Aldez asked, pointing to a microphone set up at the base of the stairs. Robin nodded, and Governor Aldez walked pointedly to the microphone to make the introductions.

"On this day of celebration, one year since the Titans joined us as our very own superheroes, we have the unprecedented opportunity to hear from them, speak to them, and watch them as they allow us to get to know them as people and friends." Government Aldez spoke. His eyes glanced down to the paper in front of him, making sure he followed the script just right. He continued with the speech, finally ending with a loud: "And now we have Robin, here to speak to all of us! Please save your questions until he asks for them."

Robin walked when the governor waved him forward. He listened to the hoots and cheers for a minute, waving to the citizens with that bright smile on his face. He never smiled this much, even at home in the tower, but he needed to gain the entire country's support of meta-humans and superheroes, not just Jump City.

"Friends." Robin finally began, wanting it to start on a personal note. "I have only been with you for a year, yet you have left a deep and lasting impact on me and my team."

_Yuck._ Robin thought. _Too cheesy._ The Jump City villains, and probably heroes alike, would tease him about this for weeks. But this was part of the sacrifice he was willing to make for the Justice League, who were sure to be watching this as well.

"I have met many of you," _Of course, you were probably screaming at the time because I was saving you from some nutter. "A_nd I have grown so fond of you all. Thank you for welcoming us into your city. I only hope I can repay the favor."

Robin said a few more words, chosen specifically to express gratitude to the people of Jump City. He did not mention Batman, that would come during the questions. Batman would certainly be brought up, and then the answers would sound more genuine.

"Thank you." Robin concluded. "Are there any questions?"

Sure enough, the first question that came out was: "Why did you leave Gotham? Why did you leave the vigilante Batman?"

Robin winced at the question, but replied with all the enthusiasm he could muster, keeping a now fond smile planted on his face. "Batman is my mentor. My friend. He is a teacher and a guide, and the only father I could ever ask for." Robin said, now completely genuine, although incredibly awkward. "But he can protect Gotham. He has supporters there. In short, I came here ready to practice what he taught me on my own. I have met my friends," Robin gestured behind him to the Titans who kept their united front. "And I have been warmly welcomed to your city. I can promise you this, I will do everything in my power to protect you."

Cheers erupted once again, and Robin waved his gloved hands to the people. When it finally settled down, he spent the next half hour asking questions from everything between his relationship to Batman and his favorite pizza toppings.

Finally, the mayor stepped forward, saving Robin from having to answer questions all night. "I believe you were planning to show us some things about yourselves?" The Mayor asked in the microphone. Robin grinned, and nodded toward Beast Boy.

The Teen Titans were ambivalent about this part. They were asked to perform for the crowds, to make them appear more human and personal. It would be incredibly awkward, but the Justice League had strongly encouraged the kids to do the rather humiliating acts. Even Beast Boy looked uncomfortable, until Superman turned his personal attention to the kid and Beast Boy nearly melted.

Beast Boy began. First, he turned into a dinosaur, roaring so loud the buildings shook. People clapped and cheered, their children laughing in excitement. The mood was too bright for fear, even though the sight of Beast Boy could certainly bring that. Beast Boy changed into a few more unusual animals, sometimes flying close to the crowd, before finally turning the attention over to Raven.

Raven began to chant, drawing the dark energy around her. She stepped into a void she created and appeared on top of the City Hall moments later. It didn't inspire the cheering and clapping like Beast Boy's performance did, but it did inspire awe. Raven's use of the dark matter hypnotized the people, and when she finally reappeared near Starfire they were positively entranced.

Starfire shot thunderbolts for the crowd's excitement. She focused the targets on some crystals that had been planted along some wires. The moment they hit the crystals, the rocks lit up and glowed bright green. She flew with grace and poise, coming down close to the people to shake hands and ruffle hair. She left the crowd amused and giddy.

Cyborg was just fun. He aimed his cannons at targets and shot with excellent precision. Afterward, he showed off his strength by lifting a car with one hand. It stressed his body, but for a brief moment, with all the cheering, he felt like he was home.

Meanwhile, Robin had taken the time to work his way to ceiling of the city hall. What looked like a telephone wire, or even a streamer, was actually more of a tight rope. By the time Cyborg was finished with his act, Robin was prepared to begin his own.

With the crowd cheering and gasping, Robing began back hand-springs down to the center of the tight rope. With the crowds rapt attention, Robin began a series of gymnastics that would make even the most skilled performer awed.

Being in a circus was far different than being a martial arts expert who used acrobatics as a weapon. For the first time in years, Robin was being a pure performer. His moves were in no way useful in a fight, far too showy to transform into a kick, but they revealed the extent of his agility and flexibility.

The tightrope dropped suddenly, but Robin was prepared for it. It was all part of the plan. He would do the initial acrobatics extremely high, for the thrill it would bring to the spectators. People all around the country would be watching this, and their thrill grew exponentially with the danger Robin was subjected to.

As the rope dropped nearly fifty feet, Robin held still on the rope, keeping his balance so precise he didn't need to move his feet to adjust. It was all part of the performance, one that most people had to attend a circus to ever see. The rope he stood on was special, it stretched just enough to take the brunt of the drop, allowing him to focus on balance instead of gravity.

Robin waved to the people of Jump City before doing an aerial off the rope. He was still too far up for a safe landing, but at the last minute he shot off his bird-a-rang, allowing it to catch on a pillar and swing him safely to the rest of the Teen Titans. With a final back-flip, once again meant purely for show, he landed safely in front of the Mayor. _Perfect landing._ Robin thought with another smile.

The cheer of the crowd was deafening. Robin was grateful he now had a few minutes reprieve, since there were several more hours to go. The attention would no longer be focused entirely on the Teen Titans, but they were expected to mingle with the crowd.

As the mayor ushered the Titans into the City Hall, Beast Boy muttered quietly, "If a villain shows up, we get to fight them, right?"

Sweaty from all the work, Robin was still able to muster up a smile. He responded sarcastically, "Of course not, Superman made it very clear that today was our day off. He and the other members of the league will be avidly watching our city to ensure we have this great opportunity to improve superhero relations with the community."

Beast Boy groaned loudly enough for the mayor to turn around and give a look. Robin swiftly smiled at the mayor, calming him, and then commented, "Beast Boy thinks he ate a bug."

TTTTTTTT

If Slade didn't believe in the value watching his enemies' movements, he never would have watched the humbling display the Titans were forced to put on for the country. It was obvious to him why the Titans were doing it. The drop in hero-support in cities like Gotham, Star City, and Metropolis made it all-too obvious why these kids would come out in public.

The Justice League wouldn't do it. Even though the problems were their own, the members had far bigger issues they needed to focus on before turning their attention to issues like "Community-relations." And Batman wouldn't step out of his shadows no matter how dire the situation had become.

Which left Robin. When Robin first appeared on screen, Slade had grimaced. That smile was not natural on Robin at all, not anymore. The kid was seriously determined and obsessive when need be. Sure he laughed with his friends, but Slade had never seen Robin keep a grin on his face for more than a few seconds.

If there was one thing Slade admired and almost hated the most about Robin, it was his loyalty. Slade demanded the utmost loyalty from his followers, and would expect nothing less from his successor. Robin portrayed loyalty in spades, even just by doing this for his hero mentors.

Leaning back in his chair, Slade's eye flickered between the Jump City news station broadcast and the personal cameras Slade kept focused on City Hall. Slade noticed the strategic quality to Robin's speech immediately. Robin didn't mention Batman or the Justice League, he kept the initial focus on the Teen Titans and Jump City. But everybody wanted to hear about his relationship with the Dark Knight, probably wanting to get the dirty grit on the reclusive man, and so the minute Robin opened it up for questions the true purpose of the event came out.

Truly admirable. For a moment, Slade wondered if Robin thought this up on his own or if one of the heroes did. Probably on his own. The boy always had a knack for these things, and his pride wouldn't let him seek help on the last details.

Then the Titans began their performances. Slade ignored them for the most part, having seen the Titans performance up close and personal. Even Slade had to admit they were admirable when using their powers. But when it came to those four Titans, powers were the only unique thing about them.

Then Robin came on. Slade saw Robin climb up the top of the building using his personal camera, but what the boy did next shocked him.

The boy was a performer. Slade didn't know where it came from, but it was obvious. The boy had grown up as a performer. Maybe his parents signed him up in gymnastics, hoping he would make it to the Olympics one day. Or perhaps Robin had started his training with a second-rate trainer who understood performances but not true martial arts.

Slade knew this because many of the jumps, flips, and dives Robin did in the set had nothing to do with fighting. No true master would waste time and dignity with training a child to make an aerial dive that would result in getting him killed in a real battle.

And Robin was far more comfortable on a tightrope than he should be. Why would a fighter know these moves? Batman certainly wasn't the type to teach Robin that, meaning that Robin must have had an entirely different experience before training with Batman.

Seeing the boy's agility and strength increased Slade's resolve to make the kid his apprentice: and for longer than the natural lifetime. He understood that the boy's loyalty ran far too deep for Slade to change it easily. But seeing the kid in this different element, one in which he excelled and truly seemed to enjoy, changed how Slade knew he would go about the eternal apprenticeship.

"Wintergreen." Slade called. He watched the rope plummet fifty feet to the ground; Robin seemed perfectly at ease. Slade caught his breath when Robin jumped. _Too high_, he thought. At the last moment, Robin used his bird-a-rang and landed directly next to the mayor. A grant finale that made even Slade jump, fearing that the boy would die before Slade could get his hands on the kid once again.

Wintergreen entered the room slowly. "You called?"

"Contact the HIVE. It's time we move into action, the HIVE fortress is fortified, and the Titans are not likely to become any more vulnerable than they are now."

Wintergreen looked up at the screen, frowning when he saw the station replaying Robin's performance. "I'll send the message now. How will you get around the Justice League? Your plan for Robin's public capture won't go unnoticed by the superheroes, and the Justice League won't stand to the side while you capture one of their young."

Slade smiled. "They will stand to the side, or innocent citizens will die. Who do you think they will choose?"

**A/N: Hope you all liked this! Let me know what you think. Since I have been struggling with my Supernatural fanfic, I thought I would work on something else for a while. Because of my struggles with the Supernatural fanfic, I originally planned to have this entire story completed before posting even one chapter. But, I think I might need some motivation coming up. **

**So far I have about eight chapters completed (and a few other chapters started but still incomplete). I will plan on posting one chapter per week (while I'm drafting the other chapters), _unless_ I receive five constructive reviews on a chapter. Then I will post the following chapter, and the clock will begin again. Make sense? Reviews motivate me, so I'll motivate you to review with some constructive criticism! If I don't receive the reviews, no worries, I won't hold the story hostage for them. **

**Also, would anybody be willing to be a beta for me? I've re-read the first eight chapters several times already, so the task shouldn't be too daunting, but I would love a second set of eyes.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: In Motion

One week later.

"You understand what you need to do?" Slade asked the teenagers in front of them. Slade would not trust these kids with the more important activities this day would hold, and they would receive no more information on his plan than they needed, but they had their uses.

"Yes, sir." Jinx nodded politely. "After Gizmo's initial introduction, we will meet Robin at City Hall at 1830 hours, he will be waiting for us. Escort Robin to the exchange point at 1900 hours. He should be wearing a t-shirt, sweat pants, and his mask. Gizmo will scan for weapons, and Mammoth will become his shackle."

"Perfect." Slade smiled. When his plans came through tonight, Robin would not struggle. Robin would come to him willingly, or risk the death of the mayor and citizens of Jump City. Slade knew better than to try threatening the Teen Titans again. The plan was old, and Robin would not allow himself to be put into that position again. But temporary blackmail of the mayor and several visiting citizens would be just what the doctor ordered.

"And how do you plan to get Robin out of his costume and willing to meet us at City Hall?" Gizmo asked.

Slade turned his eye on Gizmo and the boy immediately backed away. "You will follow my instructions exactly, and in time you will understand. Follow this plan and you will be rewarded. Deviate and you will live to regret it."

Slade turned his eye to the Titans Tower video feed, and pulled up the training room Robin was practicing in. The boy was excellent, although no longer in the carefree performance mode. Aware that the HIVE members were watching the feed as well, Slade zoomed in on Robin and focused on the boy's skills and how he would improve on them.

"Go now." Slade murmured to the teens behind him. Obediently, they moved away and left the hall. Every one of them were grateful they were not in the Boy Wonder's shoes, no matter how much he would benefit from Slade's training. They knew that Slade wanted Robin as his apprentice. They knew that Slade would win. They knew it would be an interesting sight when, in five years or so, the Boy Wonder would come to HIVE Academy, expertly trained, and would sit down next to the members as one of them.

TTTTT

The Titan Tower found Beast Boy playing video games, Cyborg working on hacking into the new police files (something the police did know about; it was becoming something of a joke at the precinct), Starfire painting her nails, and Raven playing chess against herself.

"Where's Robin?" Cyborg finally asked when he looked up to ask his leader an ethical question. Sometimes, the Boy Wonder had a weird sense of right and wrong. Hacking into the police precinct was perfectly fine in Robin's book, but what was done while in the police files themselves was not always all right.

"Training." Raven answered, looking up from her game only briefly. "He's trying to work a muscle loose after last night's fight."

Robin was indeed training in the gym, unaware he had an audience of four criminals. He started with a front kick, than whipped back for a roundhouse to the upper region of the punching bag, right where he imagined the criminal's neck would be. He continued the routine until a sweat grew and he began to lose his form. That's when he needed to stop lest he grow into sloppy habits.

Leaning against the punching bag, Robin thought back on the year's events. By far, what stood out most to him was his apprenticeship to Slade. It had lasted less than two days, but that was more than enough time for Robin to learn how frightening the one-eyed man really was.

Robin remembered the fights; the humiliation of being forced to steal. But he won in the end, with the help of the Titans. As he told his team countless times after that event, they were the ones who gave him hope to move forward.

Robin began working on fixing the tears in his suits, knowing the job would take most of the day. As he worked with his needle, something he tried to do away from Cyborg who constantly chortled at Robin's homemaking skills, he watched some of the footage from the big event. People were still raving at Robin's acrobatic skills. It got to the point where Robin began to wonder if he revealed too much of himself during that act. But no matter, what was done was done. And he was too far removed from the circus now to really need to worry about the consequences of his actions.

Robin's communicator began to beep. Pulling it out, Robin realized the communication was coming from the mayor himself.

"Mayor. How are you?" Robin asked. He had spent a lot of time with the Mayor these last few weeks, planning for the event and celebrating after it. It was a good thing criminal activity had been so low.

"City Hall is being attacked by the HIVE, Robin."

_Or not_. Robin thought.

"We're coming." Robin said, getting up and moving upstairs quickly to the rest of the Titans. The alert had not yet gone off, but he was going to use the head start to his advantage. "What can you tell me about the attack, Mayor?"

Why attack City Hall now? Why not during the big event? It obviously had something to do with the event; the timing was too much of a coincidence to believe otherwise.

"There are three of them." The Mayor said, completely serious. "There was a field trip, and they already took the teenagers away. I don't know where. The kids just vanished!"

"And where are you, Mayor?" Robin asked, completely serious. He didn't know how long they would have communication, and he wanted all the information he could get.

"My office. Security has barricaded my doors; I should be fine where I am. But the kids, Robin!"

Robin had a feeling this was about more than kidnapping a couple of kids from City Hall. This was about hostages. And the mayor would be a prize hostage. "Mayor. Get underneath your desk. We'll be there in five minutes."

"Five minutes?" Mayor asked, incredulously. "Aren't you in Titans Tower?"

"We don't go by foot, Mayor." Robin hung up the communicator, knowing where the Mayor's office was and needing to get the mission moving. The signal on Titans Tower finally picked up the emergency, and the Teen Titans were already getting ready.

"Robin. City Hall is under attack." Cyborg said.

Robin nodded. "Titans, go!"

TTTTTT

Sure enough, in less than five minutes, the Titans were at City Hall and taking up a formation. Robin moved to the ceiling, planning on going through the sky light when the time was right. Cyborg was working on cutting the electricity to the building. If HIVE was involved, the Titans knew how to strategize beforehand. As smart as HIVE was, they were still youngsters.

Starfire, Beastboy, and Raven would be the distraction. As Robin snuck through the skylight, they were going to fight hard at the main entrance. Robin moved to his communicator. "Titans, report."

"Cyborg, ready."

"Raven, ready."

"Beast Boy; I would rather be eating pizza…but ready."

"Starfire, ready."

"All right." Robin placed the explosive on the skylight. "Three…two…one…Titans, go!"

The resulting boom from Robin's explosive was drowned out by the terror Raven, Beastboy, and Starfire created in those few seconds. Star bolts shattered glass, Beastboy's dinosaur form bombarded the front entrance, and Raven's dark matter hit the doors with striking force.

The lights went off in city hall as Cyborg cut the electricity, allowing Robin to sneak in with relative ease. He carefully walked across the glass that had fallen to the floor, and kept to the walls.

The first place he went was the mayor's office. The building was dark, but skylights dotted the ceiling along the way, providing enough light for Robin to navigate the interior.

The mayor's office was destroyed, but nobody could be found. No security guards and no mayor. Robin checked under the desk and in the closet, unable to find a single soul who escaped the kidnapping.

"Titans. The mayor's office is empty." Robin finally spoke into the communicator. The Titans could hear him, but they weren't likely to respond.

Robin began to run down the hall, keeping to the shadows. After a while he slowed, the only sounds he could hear were the distance booms of the titans attacking the building. At this point, it had only been ten minutes since Robin received the call. Eight since the Titan Tower received the alert. They should have had more than enough time to get involved in the fight!

But the entire place, normally filled with people, was empty of every soul. Robin kept wandering, growing a little more nervous. How could they disappear this fast? The HIVE must have a new transporting device, which did not bode well.

The distant booms stopped by the time Robin searched most of the building. The top floor had been quick, but the main floor had been a little more detailed. Robin knew there must have been at least two hundred people in here, but they were all missing.

"Titans, report." Robin said wearily.

"We're getting an audience out here, Robin. I think it got out that City Hall has been attacked. Are we going to make a statement or get out of here?"

"Make a statement." Robin said, wincing. Part of the new hero/community relationships strategy involved heroes willingness to involve the police and government in their actions. Only the Titans were really going to do it, just to appease everybody else.

But as Robin began to walk to the entrance, the lights popped on. "Cyborg, did you restore the power?"

"No, man. It must be the back-up generators."

The main floor, near the entrance, had a large screen. And expecting something, Robin immediately turned to it. Gizmo, his face far larger than Robin preferred, filled the screen and began to talk.

"Teen Titans." Gizmo said, gleefully. "You have seven hours to surrender your leader to the HIVE."

Turned to the screen, Robin didn't notice the Teen Titans standing behind him. They must have finally opened the doors when the power came on. Starfire's gasp made Robin turn to her in surprise.

"We will not!" Starfire exclaimed. Her eyes began to glow, and Robin quickly turned her eyes away from the screen. He wanted to hear what the HIVE had to say.

"What for?" Robin asked, glaring at the screen.

"We have been hired by a dear friend and master of yours, Robin." Gizmo replied with a smirk. "It is time to give your apprenticeship a second chance."

"Tell him to…" Robin began, but Gizmo held a hand up.

"You must turn yourself in to HIVE at 6:30 p.m. tonight." Gizmo interrupted. "At that point, we will release our hostages. Robin, do you really believe you are worth more than 256 men, women, and children?"

"And how do I know you will let them go once I have come to you?"

"You wouldn't if it were just us. But the promise comes from Slade. And Slade doesn't lie." Gizmo looked away for a minute and winced at what he saw. He turned back to the Teen Titans next. "You have until 6:30 tonight, Robin. Meet us at the mayor's office. Alone. And we want you out of that costume of yours. You will wear a white t-shirt, without logos or tags, and sweatpants without a tie. You may wear your mask. Wear anything else, or try to sneak any weapons on your person, and the people will suffer. We will kill one person for every item we have to remove from you. Beginning with the youngest."

The screen turned off and immediately Robin turned to the Titans, expecting to hear their responses. But in the time it took Gizmo to make his statement and depart, the police had come in and must have heard at least the last part of it. The entire focus was on Robin.

"Er." Robin froze, unsure of what to say. Unsure of what to do.

"Robin." What looked like the chief stepped forward. "We do not give in to the demands of terrorists. Slade is nothing more than that."

"That's right." Cyborg said, but his expression said the truth. Every Titan's expression screamed the truth. Whether or not they liked it, they knew this was how it would play out.

"I will watch the feed again." Raven spoke softly. "Perhaps we will see something that will give us a hint as to where the hostages are."

Robin nodded. "Thank you."

The chief, his badge read Chief Goldberg, stepped forward. "Robin. Teen Titans. We will need you to come to the precinct with us. It is protocol. When somebody is threatened like this, we put that person in protective custody. We don't allow them to make a stupid mistake and give in to unreasonable demands."

Robin shook his head, taking out a grappling hook. "I'm sorry, officer. But unless I'm breaking the law, I'm out of here."

"Resisting an officer is a crime, kid."

Robin nearly jumped away, but something stopped him. The police had every right to be involved in this, and if Robin "fled the scene" it would destroy much of the Titans' hard work this last week.

"Titans, meet me back at the tower." Robin finally said softly. "Beast Boy, will you stop by and find me the t-shirt and sweats? We need to be prepared."

"We're staying with you, Robin." Cyborg crossed his arms, adamant about this one. Whatever decision Robin made, he would make it with the team.

"Don't worry, my friends, I won't do anything without your input." Robin replied. "But I'm going to cooperate here."

With a few nods, and a lot of second glances, the remaining Titans turned away and left, leaving Robin with the police. The focus was still on him, and Robin wondered what exactly they were thinking. They probably had no idea what Slade wanted Robin for. It wasn't as if the Titans broadcasted Robin's apprentice experience. The police probably thought Slade's goal was Robin's death. If they knew the true reasons, would that make it better or worse? _I guess I'll find out._

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I regret to say that this chapter did not incorporate the wonderful feedback I received, simply because I figured the update I promised would be more important than the time it would take to incorporate the revisions. I sort of figured I would have more time between reviews to make all the changes...you're all too awesome!**

**For all those who missed the last author's note. Five constructive reviews means a new chapter, otherwise, the next update will be a week from today (i.e. next update on 11/26).**

**I do have to admit, really quick, that Slade will be kind of out of character in this story. I think you'll enjoy it the way I'll have it set up, though. Slade won't be abusive, but he certainly won't be gentle either.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Preparation

Robin entered the passenger seat of the police car, and the officer chatted with him awkwardly on the way to the precinct. At least being in the passenger seat made it much less uncomfortable; he would have preferred anything before getting in the back of the police car like a criminal.

Robin glanced at his communicator. The time on it read 1100 hours. Normally, the only thing worrying him would be any plans to thwart the villain, in this case the villain being Slade. Now? He had to spend that precious time persuading the police that he was not giving in to a terrorist, rather he was working for the greater good.

The officer and Robin both breathed a sigh of relief when the car rolled to a stop in front of the precinct. Robin immediately left the car and found the governor standing at the front entrance. Quickly looking around, Robin said quietly, "You shouldn't be in public right now, Governor, they could chose to hold you hostage as well."

The governor rested his hand on Robin's shoulder and replied, "All for you, I've heard. Come in, we need to talk."

Robin followed inside, feeling as trapped as an inmate the moment he walked into the building. It was full of police officers, politicians, and 'witnesses.' All of their eyes were on Robin.

The chief walked out of his office, having arrived minutes earlier than the others. "Robin, Governor, if you will speak with me for a moment."

The office didn't reveal much about the chief. Only a few artistic paintings hung on the wall, and his desk was bare except for office supplies. Robin took a seat next to the desk, and the Governor sat down next to him.

"We are investigating the incident, but it seems the people in City Hall vanished without a trace." The chief began. "We have very little facts, and we are hoping that you, Robin, will be able to fill in the gaps."

Robin nodded, and the chief continued, "The last reported communication with anybody in City Hall occurred at 10:35 this morning. At 10:41 a.m. the Titans were reported for breaking into City Hall, in a rather loud and disruptive manner. I believe a dinosaur was involved?" The chief looked at The hero and smiled. Robin breathed a sigh, he had been worried the Titans might be blamed for this. In truth, He really was involved, but not by choice. "Our forces entered at 10:45, and reported that the child villain 'Gizmo' demands you, Robin, turn yourself in to the villain, Slade, to continue an apprenticeship."

Robin nodded. "Your facts are correct, sir. I received a transmission from the Mayor at 10:37." Robin pulled out his communicator, and a few buttons later pulled up the recorded conversation he had with the mayor.

_"City Hall is being attacked by HIVE, Robin."_

_"We're coming. What can you tell me about the attack, Mayor?"_

Robin proceeded to tell the Governor and Chief of Police the last forty-five minutes of events, which seemed so much longer than it sounded. That story soon transformed into the story of Robin's 'apprenticeship,' something that was much more difficult and embarrassing to explain.

When he finally finished, the silence lasted for only a moment. "Well." The governor finally said. Robin found it difficult to meet his eyes. "Obviously we cannot give in to Slade's demands."

"I don't see any other choice." Robin replied, his frustration evident. "There are over two hundred people being held for ransom right now, and Slade will kill them if I don't turn myself in."

"We have hours before you need to turn yourself in. We can come up with something before then that doesn't involve giving up."

"I don't give up." Robin hissed back, now angry at the governor for his presumptuous attitude.

"But you will give in to his demands, which is no different."

"Until we find a solution," the Chief of Police interjected, "Robin, I would like you to stay here. I will assign an officer to watch over you."

"I don't need to be watched." Robin turned to the chief of police in anger. "I'll follow you, listen to you, and obey you only while you are trying to protect those people in City Hall. And, meanwhile, I'll be looking for a solution on my own. But if we can't find a solution, I will do what is right. Whether or not protocol allows for it."

With that, he stood and walked out of the office. When the officers turned to him, Robin was half afraid he would be taken into police custody. He knew he couldn't fight them all without anybody getting hurt, but that would result in him having to give up. But he hoped the Chief of Police and Governor would listen to him.

Luckily for him, they did.

TTTTTTTT

Five hours later, Robin had next to nothing. Where could Slade stash over two hundred captives? Why was the HIVE so openly involved? The police hadn't any luck either, and Robin knew the Justice League was involved, mostly because Batman's intimidating figure stood on the screen in front of Robin.

The Teen Titans stood behind the young hero, their quiet presence providing Robin the strength to speak to Batman calmly. The man had more than enough power to bring Robin back to Gotham, and he would not have the law on his side to prevent it.

Batman knew of Robin's former apprenticeship. It hadn't taken more than a day for the Dark Knight to call him and find out why his kid was seen on Wayne Industry tower fighting his friends. Not the most fun conversation ever.

"If you choose to give yourself in, don't fight Slade directly." Batman began, obviously uncomfortable, and Robin's jaw dropped slightly. The Dark Knight wasn't going to press him to stay? "I don't like this Robin, but this is a decision I must trust you to make on your own."

"Thank you." Robin finally croaked. With Batman's allowance, it finally sank in that he was really giving himself to Slade, his arch-nemesis. In a couple of hours, he would be in the villains clutches.

"Understand this, Robin." Batman leaned in, intimidating the young teen with his presence. "I'm only allowing this because you believe Slade wants you alive. And I agree. That means an opportunity will come for your escape. I'm trusting that you will take it."

"You think I wouldn't?" Robin asked, forcing himself to remain grateful to Batman, even though the words implied the Bat didn't trust Robin to take care of himself.

"I hope you will. But this will also give the Justice League time to search for you, and possibly stop an unknown criminal organization from continuing." Understanding Batman's true motives both flattered and disturbed Robin. The Dark Knight trusted him to go to Slade and resist falling into temptation, but only for as long as it took the Justice League to find him. Truthfully, Robin was grateful he could trust the Justice League to help him. He knew for certain that Clark would find him in the end.

The rest of the conversation followed the same way. Batman, disliking the fact that Robin was giving himself in to a maniac, still supported the decision since he knew Robin wouldn't be persuaded otherwise.

But Batman was very clear that he should not antagonize Slade, at all costs. "I don't doubt for a second that Slade will lose his temper and hurt you, Robin. Don't make him angry if you can help it. Wait patiently, and in time we will find you."

Robin nodded a last time, and logged off. The thought of obeying Slade, making peace with him, or doing anything that didn't involve arresting the guy and hauling him to the highest security prison was not particularly appealing to the hero.

Robin turned around and faced his friends. Beast Boy hadn't spoken the entire time, a new record from the time Robin had known him.

"Cyborg, do you have the objects Slade asked for?"

TTTTTTT

Slade actually grinned at the screen. Did Batman really just tell Robin to obey Slade? The Dark Knight was obviously planning to rescue Robin himself, and wanted him as uninjured as possible when that happened. And because of that, Batman just handed His partner to Slade on a silver platter.

Robin wouldn't be any more willing to become Slade's apprentice, at least initially, but Slade never imagined Batman would be the one to help Slade through the process. No fighting? It would be open season for Slade to exert his influence over the boy.

TTTTTTT

At 6:25 p.m. Robin stood at the door to the mayor's office. Slade had orchestrated his plan too well. With Robin's willingness, Batman's willingness, the Teen Titans reluctant willingness, and far too many political figures using their influence, the police finally had to allow Robin to turn himself in.

He felt naked in the t-shirt and sweats. The only thing that marked him for who he was happened to be his mask and a hand-woven bracelet he wore on his wrist. It wasn't one of the items Slade explicitly allowed him to have, but Robin was willing to bet Slade wouldn't mess up the entire deal because he left on a red, yellow, and green trinket. Robin always kept his colors on. He'd had to replace the bracelet several times since his parents died, always keeping the family colors, but the meaning held just as strong.

Slade could take the colors away from Robin, but he would never remove them willingly.

Three officers stood behind Robin, and the Teen Titans stood behind the officers hesitantly. Nobody was sure how this would go down, and the Teen Titans wanted to keep a firm barrier between the outside world and Robin in the mayor's office.

"Titans, be alert." Cyborg murmured, as Robin stepped inside the office. Slade never said Robin needed to be at the mayor's office alone, and so Robin knew 'being alone' would not make a difference.

Sure enough, the building began to shake moments later. Not strong shakes that would pull paintings off walls, but strong enough to roll pens on the desk. Robin looked around carefully, and noticed the slight haze that began to build in the room.

"Robin, get back!" Cyborg yelled, but the teen knew better. The Titans were changing their mind about allowing Robin to go, now that they were watching him depart. Robin couldn't turn back now, and he stepped toward the haze that was now taking form. Before long, he could make out Gizmo, Jinx, and Mammoth. Just wonderful.

Without words, Gizmo took a brief scan of Robin, finding nothing on him but his clothing and mask. In turn, Mammoth reached out and grabbed Robin's elbow. He briefly pulled back, but Mammoth simply lowered his grip to Robin's wrist and tightened his hold.

The teenage villain then turned to a new haze forming a few feet away and began to drag Robin toward it, Robin quickly turned back to the Titans and smiled comfortingly. Jinx, or something else he couldn't make out, was holding everybody else outside of the office. "I'll see you all soon. Be careful while I'm gone."

With that, Mammoth touched the haze and Robin felt himself whipped into it along with the other two. It felt like he was hit in the gut with a hammer, it hurt so much. The sharp, shooting pain covered his entire body but centered in his lungs. He couldn't breath, and the travel felt like an eternity of struggle without time to recover.

When Robin's feet finally hit the ground, he collapsed in a heap to the floor. He still couldn't breath, and only choked gasps successfully crossed his lips. The three HIVE students who transferred Robin with them snickered at their enemy's weakness.

"I knew it was tough traveling, but really? I never figured you for a weakling." Gizmo snickered. Robin tried to glare at the evil boy, but his vision was beginning to become spotty.

A hand clapped hard against his back, and Robin finally took in a deep breath as his airways seemed to open up. "I wouldn't tease," a deep unfamiliar voice said behind him. "It's much harder on the subject of transportation when I haven't prepared them. You saw what happened to the hostages, The boy here has just as hard of a time."

Only then did a cold, hard set of hands pull Robin to his feet; leaving the teenager to find himself staring into the cold mask of Slade.

"Hello, Robin."

**A/N: I made some revisions according to the reviews, so I hope you all see the improvement! Thanks so much to every one of you. And thanks to my new beta, who is already making a difference!**

**Five constructive reviews and immediately a new chapter (you are all doing so wonderful with that already), otherwise, I look forward to hearing from you all in a week!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Welcome to the Academy **

Feeling as vulnerable as a child, Robin carefully calmed his breathing and made sure to keep his eyes on Slade, unwavering. He finally replied, "Hello, Slade."

Slade released one hand from Robin, the other hand retaining a loose hold on Robin's arm. Slade turned to somebody standing near Robin, and Robin finally got a good look at the man who caused so many hostages to disappear.

And he found somebody who appeared perfectly normal. The man turned to Slade, shook his free hand, and snapped his fingers. He disappeared.

"The hostages?" Robin asked.

"They were returned the instant you appeared. It was a perfect exchange."

"And I'm supposed to just trust you?" Robin jerked away from Slade and looked around. The HIVE students were looking at him with utter disdain. The headmistress also watched, with a neutral expression gracing her features.

Slade nodded to her and she tapped some keys on a nearby computer. A screen pulled up, and Robin watched as hundreds of hostages, all gasping for breath, looked around in confusion and fear. They were all cramped like sardines in only a few rooms, and the Titans were fighting the mayhem and sorting the confusion.

The screen switched off, and Robin knew it could be a long time before he saw the Titans again.

TTTTT

Robin was immediately taken to was the medical center, much to his surprise. When he gave a questioning look to Slade, the villain replied, "Need to make sure you haven't contracted any viruses while with that group you associated with."

"You mean my friends?" Robin shot back.

"The Titans," Slade conceded.

The next hour consisted of the most humiliating (and terrifyingly vulnerable) moments of Robin's life. The examiner, a short man with disproportionally large eyes, poked and prodded every inch of Robin. Slade didn't say much, but his presence was enough to keep Robin in line

Currently, the examiner was fingering his way down each of Robin's arms, ignoring the boy's growing discomfort. He wrote something on the report and Slade asked him what he found, curiously.

"Too skinny." The little man said, and subsequently prodded Robin in the stomach.

Robin tugged his arm out of the doctor's grasp, only to have him grab the other one. The man chuckled as Slade put up a hand to stop the boy from struggling further. Defeated, the teen finally exclaimed, "I'm not."

"We will be following Dr. Payne's advice, Robin. It seems we will be working on your diet." Slade took out a cell phone, which Robin eyed carefully, and tapped a few buttons. It seemed that Slade planned to follow Dr. Payne's advice to the letter.

Dr. Payne kept chuckling, but eventually directed Robin to stand. "Off with the shirt."

Robin froze. He was willing to show his arms, which had only minor scars, but his chest and back? They were littered with scars from Robin's time as a hero. Nobody saw Robin without his shirt or pants on, except perhaps Alfred when Robin had an injury.

Even when Robin had his short apprenticeship with Slade last time, he left on the black jumpsuit while changing into the Slade uniform.

"Why?" Robin finally spoke, not moving.

"Do as you're told, Robin." Slade said, but Robin kept his eyes trained on Dr. Payne.

"Believe me boy, most villains are littered with scars. If you're worried about being ugly under there, you better believe you won't have anything I haven't seen before."

Reluctantly, Robin pulled his shirt off in one quick motion. Dr. Payne's whistle was enough for Robin's face to heat up. "Glory, boy, what were you doing? Acting as somebody's pin cushion?"

"Actually..." Robin looked down, something he rarely did, and noticed the long scratches across his chest, the bullet wound scar near his shoulder, and many other shallower scars that marred his chest and stomach. Several of them came from a time Robin was tortured by Joker in Gotham.

What was even more embarrassing was the number of current bruises and scrapes Robin had, overall making him appear to be abused. And even he had to admit, his ability to fight crime came from talent and training, not strength. He was skinny.

Slade reached out and touched Robin's shoulder, inspecting the bullet wound scar. Robin stiffened, that particular scar nearly cost him his entire career. He remembered the subsequent fight with Batman all to clearly, only in part because it was not that long ago.

"You've been tortured." Slade murmured. When Robin nodded, Slade continued. "I recognize the signs, now, although I never would have guessed without this proof. You've obviously been shot, in the not too distant past. And I didn't realize you would be covered in fresh bruises. I know your costume is thin, but I didn't realize it was useless."

Useless? Robin thought, gritting his teeth. "It doesn't absorb every blow, but it works for me."

Slade was quiet for the rest of the examination. Both Slade and Robin knew that the injuries weren't slowing Robin down, regardless of their appearance. The vast majority of them occurred prior to Robin coming to Jump City, when he was still working with the Dark Knight of Gotham City.

Dr. Payne, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed making Robin stretch his shoulder and every other muscle to prove he was completely limber. Quite honestly, the scar tissue was tight enough to make Robin wince in certain positions, but there was nothing to be done of it.

"Mr. Slade," Dr. Payne turned to Slade after motioning that Robin could put his clothing back on. By the time Dr. Payne had finished his examination, Robin was only wearing boxers and a bright red face. Stripping to near nudity was not something on Robin's to-do list when it came to working near master villains, particularly Slade. He would have fought outright, had it not been for the internal warning that he might be physically forced to strip if he didn't do it willingly. And yes, that would have been far worse. Robin turned his attention back to Dr. Payne. "I have written up a list of concerns for you to be aware of, most notably his diet. If you want him to thicken, he will need to eat more proteins..."

Robin zoned out, shockingly bored. He had expected to be in a deep, dank, cellar right now, not a doctor's office inside of who-knew-where. The H.I.V.E. Academy, Robin realized. Slade probably took Robin to the H.I.V.E. Academy, which Robin knew to be built like a fortress, and so far impossible to find by any of the heroes.

This will make it more difficult, Robin realized. He leaned against the exam chair while Slade and Dr. Payne spoke over him. But it will certainly have it's benefits.

TTTTT

"I'll show you to our rooms, and then we will leave for dinner." Slade remarked to Robin as they left the exam room. Feeling apprehensive, Robin silently followed. He would never admit it, but after the examination, and wearing these ridiculously useless clothes, Robin felt vulnerable.

Nevertheless, Robin followed Slade down the halls, past several students who stared at Robin in either wonder or disdain, up another hallways that was set away from the commonly traveled areas, and into a room at the end of a hall. It was a homey little hallway, with thick carpet and tan walls, and the room inside matched it well.

The room held one queen-sized mattress with sheets and blankets tucked in at the edges, a desk, chest for clothing, and television set. Not too bad of a room, Robin immediately thought, looking around.

"You will be staying in the other room," Slade nodded to a door at the other end of the room, and Robin immediately realized that the room he was standing in was Slade's room.

Once again feeling apprehensive, Robin walked to the door Slade had motioned and walked inside the tiny room. Not room, closet. Slade was putting Robin inside the walk-in closet. A twin bed was pushed up against the far wall, and there was enough room for a chest of drawers for Robin, a place for shoes, and ample hanging room for his clothing considering shelves lined the top of the entire closet.

"This will be your room while we stay at the academy." Slade commented, following behind the boy as he stood at the edge of the closet.

"You mean my closet?" Robin remarked back. There were no windows in his "room," and just the one door leading into Slade's room. As was Slade's intention, this would make things difficult. Unless Slade was a heavy sleeper, and Robin doubted he was, Robin would have a difficult time making an escape while Slade was sleeping.

Slade ignored Robin, instead proceeding with his directions. "I want you to pay close attention in class, and obey your teachers as you will obey me. No trying to leave."

Robin rolled his eyes, turning to Slade and facing him directly. The villain was going to be insufferable, "You mean escape?"

In seconds, Slade picked Robin up by his collar and held him at eye level, leaving Robin's feet trying to find purchase on the floor. "I mean what I say. Take my words however you wish to, but you will be respectful to me. You will not be sarcastic with me. Do I make myself clear?"

Being held in Slade's steel grip did not make Robin feel any less vulnerable. Plus, it hurt being lifted by his t-shirt, much more so than when he was in his uniform. _Pick your battles_, Robin thought, and nodded to Slade.

Slade dropped Robin, satisfied. Regaining his balance, Robin moved away from his arch-nemesis. "You can change into something more comfortable, but be ready for dinner in ten minutes."

With that, the villain turned away and moved to his computer, not actually leaving the room. Shrugging, Robin walked inside and closed the door. There were clothes inside the chest of drawers, organized so that socks and underclothes were on top, shirts folded neatly in the next drawer, and jeans at the bottom.

Robin pulled out jeans and a evergreen t-shirt, putting a gray hooded jacket on over the top of his shirt. Layers of clothing would at least provide some protection. He pulled out tennis shoes located on the other side of the dresser, grateful for anything he could put on.

Finally, he sat down on the little twin bed and rested his head against the wall. The mattress was comfortable, firm, but soft enough to match his bed at the Titan Tower. The room was warm, and Robin knew that when it got too hot the only way he would get air would be to open the door, losing the little privacy he had from Slade.

Not waiting for Slade to force him out of the room, Robin opened the door and waited for Slade to look up from his computer. The entire situation felt surreal, being in the same room as Slade and making no attempt to fight.

Finally, Slade clicked off the computer and motioned for Robin to sit on a chair near his computer. Slowly, Robin moved to the chair and sat down, looking up into the eye of Slade. Slade opened a drawer and pulled a device out. "Hold out your hand. You will be wearing this during our stay here."

Robin looked at the device and realized it was a tracker. Slade planned to keep Robin here by using a tracker? This might be easier than Robin thought. All he needed to do was get out of the building, cut the tracker, and run like the devil.

As if sensing this train of thought, Slade explained. "This will immediately let me know where you are if you tamper with it. But not only will it alert me, it will also knock you out. I don't recommend you try to remove it by any means, as it is extremely sensitive and it won't be fun to wake up after you're knocked out by the chemicals it will release. And don't try to break your thumb to pull it off, it doesn't work like that."

"No." Robin said. He stood up and moved away from the villain in front of him. He wouldn't make it far, he knew that, but he wouldn't willingly put a tracker on, either. Those were his limits. He would obey the man, or at least try stay calm when saying no, but he would not allow himself to agree to situations that would make him more entrenched into the apprenticeship with the villain.

"No?" Slade remarked, stood up, and Robin found himself blocking a very dangerous kick. It hurt, having only his sleeved arms to block the kick, but it was better than having his ribs broken. Robin blocked three more punches before he realized that Slade wasn't trying to hurt him, or even engage in a serious fight. No, the man was trying to corner him.

And Robin _was_ cornered. Realizing this, Robin tried to take the offensive, but there wasn't much he could do against a man in full armor. In seconds, Slade had Robin pinned to the ground. He put his knee on Robin's back, keeping the boy flat on his stomach, and spoke, "Is this really how you want to start your first day?"

Robin swore, and in turn the knee dug into his back further. Robin's arm was twisted next, and the boy could do nothing but squirm when the tracker was attached to his wrist. It wasn't too tight, but it was bulky and wobbled.

Slade lifted his weight, and Robin immediately flipped over to face the man, his face once again heating up. Slade rose a hand when Robin reached over to rip the tracker off. "Unless you want to spend your first night vomiting, you better not touch that."

Robin took a step away from the villain, already feeling a little humiliated. Slade shook his head in exacerbation. Slade knew Robin was trying to obey him already, but the kid needed to understand that Slade _always_ expected obedience. "I didn't chose to take you on as an apprentice to hurt you, Robin." The man said, and Robin held back a snort. "I have no desire to fight you when we are not in a regulated training. Any fights we have will be your choosing; however, I _will_ fight if you do not obey me. You will be brought to your knees every time."

After Robin refused to respond, Slade didn't address it further, and instead the pair left the rooms to get dinner.

TTTTTTT

Robin took a deep, silent breaths of air as they approached the cafeteria. Robin could hear people talking behind those doors, and the thought of being surrounded by some of the best current and future villains was more than a little daunting.

"You will sit with me." Slade said, moments before they entered the room. "After we sit down, you will stand in the line at the back of the room, and pick up a meal for yourself. Normally, you will be required to retrieve a meal for both of us, but I will be busy during dinner."

Robin nodded. Slade seemed perfectly comfortable in this setting, and he probably was, but Robin's nerves were nearly spent, and he really didn't want to face so many of the villains he fought.

The door opened, and it was just as bad as Robin feared. The room went silent. The eyes slowly turned to face him. As Robin followed Slade with his head held high, the heads turned. When Slade reached the table where it appeared only the adult villains sat, including the headmistress and a few others Robin didn't recognize, whispers slowly began to erupt.

Slade glanced at Robin, and Robin took it as his cue to grab his dinner. Still a little humiliated, because now he was going to stand in line for dinner in front of these people, Robin obeyed.

The line was short, and pretty soon Robin stood in front of a student who obviously was taking her turn dishing out the food. Her skin was yellow, and her mouth was too large for her face. She held Robin's gaze for a while, before saying "pick something."

Robin looked down, and was grateful that when his stomach grumbled it wasn't loud enough for anybody to notice. He had his pick: salads, potatoes, pizza, lasagna, fried chicken, spaghetti, and burritos.

"A slice of pizza, thank you." Robin responded. It wasn't as if he hadn't had enough pizza at the tower, but it felt like a little piece of home.

The girls slid a slice onto his place, and Robin grabbed a side of chips before leaving the line. _A drink_, Robin thought, looking around. In the corner, there stood several glasses and his pick up drinks. Robin considered them as well, grateful to see that while water was the drink set out, caffeinated beverages were available. Since Robin was perpetually tired, he learned to live off caffeinated drinks, including coffee, tea, and caffeinated soda. Robin filled his glass with the soda, and turned to return to Slade.

Robin put his tray on the table, and took his seat next to Slade. The villain took a brief glance at him, deep in conversation with the headmistress—they were discussing some funds Slade contributed to the academy earlier—before noticing the meal on Robin's plate.

Robin grabbed a slice of pizza just before Slade turned his full attention to him. The man eyed his soda, and then the chips still on the plate. Finally, he turned to the pizza in Robin's hand, which had one bite taken out of it.

"Do you live off junk food, or are you trying to annoy me?" Slade said mildly, and Robin looked down at the plate in wonder. This was what he ate at the Titans Tower daily. Sure, he ate "healthier" things when Alfred was still preparing his food, but he at least got all the food groups from the pizza!

"The pizza is healthy." Robin said quietly, trying not to draw attention to himself. He could already feel his face heating up, as it had done several times that day. "The chips are a snack, and the drink keeps me active."

"That disgusting beverage will slow you down. And everything else you picked up is junk." Slade huffed, also speaking quietly, and pulling the drink away from Robin's plate. "I thought Batman taught you how to take care of yourself."

Robin flushed, feeling like a child at Slade's words. _Everybody eats this stuff_, Robin thought, but he knew very well how _that_ would turn out for him. "I eat this every day at the Titans Tower, and I've been perfectly fine so far."

_Also not a good thing to say_. Slade seemed to begin counting in his head, and Robin wondered what he had done so wrong to warrant that. "That explains why you are in your condition."

Robin sputtered, "My condition? I'm perfectly fit!"

"We'll discuss this later, but you may expect a diet change. For now, refrain from eating the chips." Slade passed Robin his own water, which had been handed to him earlier. As Slade was in full uniform, he obviously wouldn't be drinking it himself. Slade kept the soda in his hand, away from Robin's reach, and tried not to think about what it had been doing to Robin's body.

Robin finished quickly, and waited for Slade's discussion to be over. A few people were still watching him, he could see it out of the corner of his eye, but he tried to ignore them for the time being. Robin looked at the clock positioned in the large room, and realized it was almost nine in the evening. Even without the caffeine coursing through his system, Robin could feel his body starting to wake up. This was when the Titans left the tower to fight crime. What did Slade do at this time of night?

"Come." Slade said, and stood up. With his head held high, Robin followed Slade. It was difficult, truth be told. But nobody would think Robin was broken down already. He knew that in this crowd he would be a strange sight, particularly without his customary bright colors, but he wouldn't let that affect him.

When Slade and Robin returned to their rooms, Robin felt his pulse begin to quicken. While normally he would be out and about fighting crime with his team, he would be satisfied a few fights with Slade. At least that was something he would always enjoy. He liked matching skills with Slade, even though they both knew Slade was better overall (Robin would never admit that).

"Change into some night clothes and come back. We have a few things to discuss before bed." Slade said, making Robin's mouth drop open.

"It's 9:15!" Robin exclaimed, checking the clock on the nightstand. "I'm barely starting to wake up!"

"Then that will be the first thing we start working on," Slade calmly replied. "Along with the appalling food you chose for yourself this evening, we will work on your poor sleep schedules."

Now Batman _did_ teach Robin how to sleep, it was always better to sleep in periodic short spurts, to remain aware and ready for battle. Of course, _Bruce_ _Wayne_was known for being unconscious in most of his meetings, but that was because he rarely slept at all. Another thing Robin had in common with his former mentor.

"But everybody comes out at night." Robin replied, "Certainly we..."

Robin didn't know what to say. Did he want to encourage Slade to engage in a fight? Even if it was just a mock fight for a few hours? Should he ask for a book to read for a few hours? The one thing Robin didn't want to do was lie awake in a dark room with Slade next door until morning...

Which is exactly what he had to do.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed another chapter! Happy Thanksgiving to you all.**

**One week or five reviews (although I apologize for being a day late this time, it's a busy time of the year!), hooray for new chapters. Thanks to you all!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Training

Apparently, Robin's new "bedtime" meant going to bed at 10:00 p.m. Of course, for Robin that meant falling asleep at 4:00 a.m. the next morning. He had only succumbed to sleep when his body finally told him the time for bed had come.

Four in the morning. It was, all things considered, appropriate that he would habitually fall asleep at the time in the morning when crime was at its lowest. The criminals of Jump City were usually exhausted at this time of night, so the Titans were generally able to sludge home as well. Robin would sleep for four to five hours, wake up in time for breakfast and a quick exercise, and then slept a couple of more hours in the afternoon, after taking care of any end-of-business crimes.

So when Slade woke him up at 6:00 a.m. the next morning, Robin was not pleased. First, because the Titans knew very well not to disturb him unless it was absolutely necessary, and second, because Slade actually had to nudge him to get him to wake up—not something Robin wanted the villain to do ever again.

"Mmph," Robin mumbled, before burying his face in the pillow.

"It's time to begin training. You've had plenty of time to sleep, it's time to wake up."

Robin tried to open his eyes, and found he was so groggy it almost made him dizzy. He had just been woken up in the middle of his deepest sleep, and if he didn't sleep longer he would be going off only six hours of sleep in a forty-eight hour time period, since he hadn't taken his afternoon nap the day before, being so busy with preparing to meet Slade.

Slade nudged him again, and Robin made his mind believe an emergency was occurring, to get some adrenaline flowing, since it wasn't already doing so with the presence of a major villain in the room. Robin pulled himself out of bed and began stretching, watching Slade turn his back and leave the tiny room.

Laying his chest against his stretched legs, Robin allowed his muscles to loosen, simply enjoying the feeling. He would probably fall asleep like this if he stayed much longer, so Robin finally grabbed a workout outfit he saw the previous evening, and put it on in preparation for the day.

Walking out of his room, he noticed Slade was already prepared, although not wearing his body armor. Only fair really, since Robin didn't have the metal plates protecting him from the man's unforgiving armor. Even a light hit had the potential to break his arm.

"You will go to bed at 10:00 p.m. every night while we are at the academy. Until I find a reason to send you on missions at night, you may as well have a healthy schedule. Every morning, you will wake up at 6:00 a.m. sharp, and we will work on your training."

"I'll never be able to sleep that early." Robin responded, ten to six? It didn't make any sense, either. Slade obviously didn't keep those hours, because the Titans generally fought Slade after midnight.

The man seemed to understand this unspoken question, and responded in turn, "You are still young, and it's healthier to be keeping a regular schedule. When I can trust you I will have you take a few late night trips, but for now you will be on a schedule."

"It's a waste of time, Slade," Robin said. "I don't really need to sleep, I haven't since I was a kid. And I've been all right. What I can't handle is having my time thrown off like this. You expect me to continue working with you? That should be the schedule, not this pedestrian thing you've got going on."

Robin didn't really know why he was arguing over this, except that he was tired from being woken up at six in the morning, after only two hours of sleep. He did need sleep, just not Slade's wacko schedule. Why not a schedule they both already kept?

"Somehow I don't get the impression Batman taught you how to survive," Slade held a hand up to stop Robin from contradicting him. "He taught you how to fight, how to defend yourself and others, but he didn't teach you the basics of living...probably because somebody took care of that for you. Because of that, you are thin, short, and sleep-deprived. You may not even realize it yourself, but it's obvious when looking at you."

The exhaustion dropped from Robin when anger swelled as a response to Slade's words. The worst part was that Robin knew the words were true, even though he generally shoved the knowledge that he was skinny, short, and probably an insomniac to the back of his mind, but Slade's words hurt.

Robin unglued his mouth to respond to Slade, who had turned his attention to his desktop. The man had graphs pulled up today, and Robin knew eventually he would have to hack in and contact the Titans. For now, he knew Slade wouldn't let him near the devices. "I'm not a child, Slade, I've been taking care of myself for a long time. Don't you dare treat me like one. Don't forget I've seen more death, carnage, and butchery in this world than most war veterans."

Slade straightened, and because he was already standing so close it was easy for him to place a hand on Robin's shoulder, holding it there even after the boy flinched and tried to shrug it off. "I know." Slade said, and Robin hated having to look up to the villain, it made him feel just as short and skinny Slade claimed he was. "But you won't be seeing that for quite some time. I'll wait until you are an adult before I take you on an assignment, but even then you won't be reliving Gotham. My work is clean."

Robin shook his head, allowing Slade's comments to slide as he remembered Batman's warnings.

Slade nodded, satisfied with Robin's submission. "Follow me, I think you will like what I have in mind for training every morning."

"I doubt it," Robin mumbled, but didn't repeat himself when Slade asked him to speak up.

When they entered the gym, Robin wasn't surprised to see they were the only people there. But he was very surprised at how well-kept and well-stocked the gym appeared. Fighting equipment graced one wall, with dull blades and plastic arrows adorning the shelves. Robin knew he could use most of these weapons, and surprised himself by looking forward to mock-fighting with Slade. It would be the first time Robin was actually able to study the man's moves. The team could never acquire real footage of Slade fighting, the villain had too many Sladebots doing the public work and his private work was done too well—always in private.

Another wall revealed long sloping edges with brightly-colored grip-holds scattered across the face. Ropes hung from the top, and Robin immediately realized that this was a rock wall. He had heard of them many times, but never had time to go to a climbing gym, nor the will, really.

"We'll be starting on the rock wall every morning." Slade said, when he saw Robin eye the thing with interest. This was exactly what Slade was hoping for when he ensured the wall would be included in the training gym. If Robin began to enjoy his time training, he would necessarily associate the time training with Slade. Soon enough, Robin would find himself excited to see Slade himself, rather than just fighting or training with the man. Such was the Pavlovian theory.

Robin remained calm as he approached the rock wall, making sure to not embarrass himself by full-out flinging himself on the faux rocks. He put one hand on a rock, excited to have a strong grip, and immediately began to climb.

A strong hand gripped the back of his shirt before he was two feet off the ground and pulled him off. While Slade helped Robin steady himself, Robin looked at Slade incredulously, "What was that for?"

"You may start out on an easy route, but you're going to fall on several of these climbs. These walls are sixty-feet high. If you fall from the top you'll spend the rest of your time in HIVE Academy waiting for your broken legs to mend. It would be a waste of time for both of us." Slade walked over to a table nearby and picked up what was obviously a climbing harness. While Robin had never been climbing in a gym before, he had worn these when he was first training to climb in the Batcave with Batman. It wasn't a difficult task for Robin, however, so the boy quickly moved on from climbing. But this wall already drew Robin's attention in a way the Batcave never had.

"Put this on," Slade said, handing one of the harnesses to Robin and a pair of shoes. Seeing that Slade was putting a harness on himself, Robin didn't hesitate to do so. It wasn't that he needed a harness, Robin knew, but this was not something to pick a fight over. Especially not when it might mean losing the chance to climb, something that could be deemed as more of a privilege then a task in Robin's book. The shoes were tight, which was exactly how they should be. While people often mistook his shoes to be plenty big for his feet whenever he wore the suit, nobody realized how squeezed-in his feet really were in order to grip walls. The shoes appeared big simply because Robin was still growing and he wore them as giant metal weapons to aid him in battle. Those metal shoes could do some serious damage.

"To start, you'll try an easier route. Have you ever climbed in a gym before?" Slade asked, and Robin shook his head. "As you climb, you are only allowed to use the rocks of the same color..."

Slade explained the rest of the rules and allowed Robin to begin climbing. The route was far too easy, however, and he made it to the top in less than a minute. Rather than having Slade belay him down, Robin completed the climb by climbing down the same way he came up. This task proved much harder.

Slade explained the ratings when Robin came down. The ratings were simple, the easiest in a normal gym was a 5.6 rating. The hardest? A 5.14. This gym equipped a 5.15, although Slade quickly explained that most professional climbers struggled with a 5.15, and Robin probably wouldn't be doing one for years.

Robin had just completed a 5.10, and Slade allowed him to skip a few steps move on to a 5.12. "You'll be working on the easier ones most of the time," Slade explained, "to work on your skill. But for now I'll see what your maximum level is and we'll go from there."

The "5.12" was much harder, Robin quickly realized. He wasn't more than ten feet up when he slipped. He quickly regained his positioning and listened to Slade yell a command, "Move your hips to the right, Robin. Increase your arm-span."

Robin did so and found he could barely touch the next rock, which would give him the tips of three fingers to hold his weight. Robin realized his fingers would never last, but keeping his fingers grasped onto the rock, Robin moved his right foot up on a rock and pushed himself up using the weight on his foot. The climbing shoes had no more than a quarter of an inch to grip the rock, but they held.

"Very well done, Robin." Slade said, and a rush of satisfaction swept through the teen.

Only fifty feet left to go. Robin thought, before continuing his way up.

TTTTT

Robin slipped three more times on the climb, and both Robin and Slade were grateful for the harness and rope attached to Robin when he slipped on the last bright red rock at the top. With a few more teaching words from Slade, he was able to grasp the top edge of the wall and let himself be lowered down. He didn't even attempt to climb down this wall, they both knew he wasn't skilled enough for that.

Which was frustrating. Now that Robin was at the bottom with Slade, he wondered how it was that people climbed walls like this all the time at gyms and Robin still struggled! He was still thinking about this when Slade threw a bo-staff at him.

Catching it, Robin immediately took up defensive, waiting for Slade to strike. The villain nodded in approval, but made no move. "We're sticking with comfortable weapons today, but soon this weapon will only be used by you when I give my express permission. I want you comfortable in any circumstance, not just one that you have a bo-staff."

Robin nodded, privately agreeing with Slade. He relied on the Bo-staff far too often in fights. It was frustrating when he had to do without it.

Finally making his move, Robin quickly blocked a strike and swung back. It was a soft swing, with Robin reserving himself for the next hit. The fight went on for some time, strike, block, swing, block, feint, dive, strike, block, block.

After a few minutes, the mood began to change. The pair wasn't fighting to warm up anymore, and the hits became more vicious, the blocks more biting. Not for the first time was Robin glad he wore a mask at all times. It wasn't just for his secret identity, but it kept the elements away from his eyes. Rather than wiping sweat from his eyes in moments of crisis, Robin could fight.

Slade was also sweating, but he wasn't slowing down or conserving his energy. While Robin was still exhausted from the night before, obviously Slade slept very well or didn't need as much sleep. It took only a few more minutes for Robin to find himself on his back with the tip of the staff pressing against his chest. He reached up to twist the staff off of him, and Slade quickly hit Robin hard on the shoulder in response. It was Slade's first hard hit this morning, and the violence of it surprised Robin.

"If your opponent has you in this position," Slade said, just as Robin was about to ask what Slade was thinking by hitting him that hard. His entire arm would be dead for the day after a blow like that. "You do not fight it. He has beaten you, and you can expect him to kill you if you fight him. Wait for him to move the staff to restrain you."

Slade moved his staff off Robin as if to reach down and pluck the boy from the ground, but Robin quickly jumped to his feet and backed off. "Very good. If a chance like that presents itself, you take it. But don't make some bull-headed move to get away. Think, then act."

Robin flinched as he tried to move his arm, it was absolutely going to be dead for the day. "You didn't have to hit so hard."

"Best way to make sure you don't do it again." Slade responded, not sorry at all. "One of the first times we fought I had you in a move very similar to that. Rather than submit to fight another day, you tried to fight my hold off. The only reason you survived was because I did not want you dead at the time."

"I've survived well enough before." Robin responded, moving over to the bo-staff. He picked it up gingerly, a dead arm wouldn't stop him from training. He wouldn't attack Slade, but he would certainly defend himself.

"Because you fought two-bit criminals, students, or had a superhero or super-powered team at your back. You will learn to fight on your own, here," Slade stated, narrowing his eye, "because I won't allow you to get away with the half-baked work you've been pulling out lately."

Robin sputtered, "Half-baked? I lead my own team, Slade! I do great work, and while you're right, I'm still learning, I still fight murderers and thieves twice my age and years of experience." Robin cursed again, and Slade took a swipe that wasn't really meant to hit the boy, only force him to duck.

"You have a lot of potential," Slade said, and he lunged forward to take another strike at Robin, which was easily blocked. "That is true. I'm not insulting your intelligence or your abilities, boy, but I am saying you have gotten unfathomably sloppy. You've been fighting in Jump City rather than Gotham, and it's starting to show. Now when you block this next one, hold your staff higher."

Slade took a swing, one that would crush Robin's skull in a direct hit, but was blocked. Robin could have blocked it easily in his current position, but something about what Slade said made him raise his staff higher, allowing him to not only to block Slade's staff but send a kick to the villain's stomach as well.

Slade took a few steps back from the blow, and nodded approvingly. "Very good. Now, rather than fight one-to-one, we will be using some dummies so I can correct your sloppiness."

Biting his tongue, Robin followed Slade to a dummy positioned in a corner of the room. His arm still aching, he carefully watched Slade and the dummy while the man positioned it to face Robin.

"Imagine it is attacking you." Slade said, "give me a roundhouse."

Being one of the first moves Robin had ever been taught, the kid didn't think twice before delivering a harsh blow to the dummies head.

Well, attempted to deliver a harsh blow to the dummies head was more like it. Inches before Robin hit the dummy, Slade's hand caught his ankle and stopped him. Another hand rested on Robin's still-good arm, keeping the boy from twisting away.

Robin cursed again, "What...are...you doing?" He spat through gritted teeth.

"Notice the position your foot is in?" Slade commented, and Robin couldn't help but look down and curse again. He had made a beginner mistake, not quite twisting his foot to deliver the maximum blow to the dummy. How long had he been doing that? He trained daily in Titan's Tower, but he rarely watched himself in the mirror, anymore. It wasn't as if he ever missed a hit, but apparently he wasn't downing his enemies in the fewest moves possible.

"You have been growing progressively sloppier since coming to Jump City. Not that you didn't make mistakes before, but they are being exacerbated," Slade said, keeping a hold of Robin's ankle but letting go of his shoulder. Biting his lip again, Robin allowed his grounded foot to twist into its proper position. Slade continued, "No longer. You are not going to be as good as you were when you left Gotham, you will be better."

Robin didn't respond, and Slade let him go. "Do it again."

Slower this time, and paying particular attention to his form, Robin took another swipe at the dummy and Slade allowed him to make the hit.

"Already better," Slade said, "but still we have a lot to work on. Try it again, but take it in steps, I want to go back to the very beginning."

As if I were a beginner, Robin thought, but obeyed anyway. He didn't want another blow to his shoulder like last time. Angling his leg, he bent it into position. Then slowly, but not too slowly, he struck out to the dummy. Once again, Slade caught his ankle. Robin snapped, "Just tell me what you want and I'll do it, but don't stop me mid-move."

"I will stop you mid-move to show you where you are going wrong." Slade said, and pulled on his ankle. Although Robin had been inches away from hitting the dummy, his leg hadn't been extended as far as it should have been. Slade pulled Robin's leg until it was nearly straight, but not locked, and then gripped the back of his ankle.

Now that his leg was extended to what was admittedly a better position, Robin could see he was several inches too close to the dummy's torso. Slade patted the top of Robin's foot, "This is what is supposed to hit the opponent's head, Robin, not your shins."

When some of the older students began to file into the gym about an hour later, Robin noticed Slade picked up the speed and pretty soon they were fighting one-on-one again. And this time, Slade wasn't holding back. The first day in the Academy, and Robin knew he was going to have bruises covering his face, neck, and arms. Slade's fighting was harsh, and Robin could barely keep up with one dead arm and only using blocks to defend himself. Some of Slade's hits would have broken Robin's bones if the boy didn't block just in time.

When Slade took a break, Robin realized exactly why the man was being so harsh. The other students were watching, and Slade wanted to show them just how good Robin was as an apprentice. And Robin had been proving his worth the entire time, fighting just as harsh—albeit not as well—as Slade.

This was Slade gloating, and Robin felt as though he had been played...made to show off in front of his enemies. A little embarrassed, Robin cleaned up and began to work again. He wasn't able to hold back, because Slade certainly didn't slow down. Instead, he began to back up, using a variety of flips and dives to avoid Slade's lunges. Feeling like a show dog, Robin jumped on Slade's staff as it lunged on him and used the leverage to kick Slade's chest.

The villain caught his foot, and Robin felt himself go down hard, unable to break the fall. With Slade still holding onto his ankle, the villain viciously twisted his ankle and Robin felt something crack. Letting out one choked gasp, he immediately stopped moving. His ankle was broken, and Slade had him in a submissive position Robin knew he couldn't get out of without damaging himself further.

Slade let go of his foot, and held out a hand to help Robin up. "Very good. A little faster and you would have had me gasping for air."

When the Boy Wonder put his weight on his foot to hold himself up, he had to bite on his lip. Slade handed a bo-staff to Robin, and he used it to hold himself up. Slade continued, "Take a shower and meet me at Dr. Payne's office. You'll need to be able to walk on your foot."

**A/N: Another chapter for you all! Thanks for the wonderful reviews. I'm keeping an eye on all the suggestions and trying to make changes as I go! Thank you, thank you.**

**You know the drill with the reviews! But oh boy, I've got to keep up with my own writing pretty soon!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Master's Exam

That wasn't the last time Robin found himself bruised and beaten by Slade's hands. The man, while he didn't act like a sadist, certainly didn't give any mercy either. At least not when other students were around. When it was just Slade and Robin together in the early morning, before anybody else was dumb enough to get up, Slade was almost... nice. Robin continued to enjoy rock-climbing and sparring even when it hurt, because the rush of adrenaline always kicked in. Furthermore, if the injury was bad enough, Slade took Robin to Dr. Payne's office and the man patched him up with a mixture of magic and science.

It worked even better than Raven's powers, and Robin noted the techniques Dr. Payne employed to get the optimal results.

In the weeks that followed Robin's initiation to the Academy, he found himself growing accustomed to some aspects of life while others were downright miserable. Sleeping began to be less of a task at night, as Robin slowly became adjusted to his new schedule. He still couldn't sleep before midnight, but he knew that even that would come in time. And because he actually had a schedule now, Robin found himself with more energy in the early morning. He even started to get tired when 10:00 p.m. rolled around.

The students of the academy were an entirely different problem. Much of Robin's day was spent in 'classes' with other students, although Robin found that he excelled in nearly all of them. While the teachers taught skills that Robin had fought against, he was able to apply them the same way.

For instance, in order to save Batman from dying due to a poisoning once when Robin was still in Gotham, he had to learn exactly how to brew the antidote. When the teacher asked how to brew the poison itself, it was easy for Robin to remember the ins and outs of the poison.

And lock-picking? That was something Robin was taught at the very beginning. Even living at the circus Robin had learned some of these skills. So it came as no surprise that with the right equipment, Robin was able to pick nearly every lock.

The students _hated_ Robin for his skills, especially Jinx, Gizmo, and Mammoth, who he had already embarrassed multiple times in the real world. And it wasn't just the students Robin knew. It didn't take long for him to realize that some of the older students were jealous that Slade chose Robin as an apprentice, which explained why so many of them came to the gym early in the morning. They must have been hoping to impress Slade with their own skills. Robin tried not to think about why he didn't know these older students, they were probably working in different cities, and Robin didn't really care to know them.

Since they wanted Slade, they could have him as their 'master', if Robin had any say in it. While he wouldn't personally be cruel enough to pass the token to them, if Slade wanted them and they accepted, Robin wouldn't complain. But Slade didn't seem to care about their skills, although he did teach them as a group of a few times.

Robin had to be very careful when fighting the older students under Slade's watch. They had something to prove to Slade, and that was very dangerous for the young hero.

Robin soon learned to be quick when taking a shower, because the older students liked to show up and give him a hard time. It didn't take long for Robin to become used to hearing things like: "Pretty boy", "brat", and "butt-muncher." Not that it ever really bothered Robin, he had been called much worse by much more dangerous people.

TTTTT

Robin soon found himself becoming the victim of little pranks; small, but intensely dangerous. The worst of the pranks occurred when Robin grabbed dinner for Slade and himself one night. His own meal was fairly standard, as Slade created a standing order for him. When he took his first bite, he bit right into a tiny piece of glass.

_That was the thing about villains_, Robin thought that night, pulling the piece of glass out of his mouth carefully, and grateful he chewed before swallowing._ Their 'pranks' border on murderous. _

Still, he didn't complain to Slade, even when he ended up with a broken wrist after a machine he had been working with had been tampered. It matched the blistered skin on his other hand from where the beacons in his chemical lab exploded because the chemicals were mixed up.

Now, Robin was standing with the kids in his class, which were essentially Jinx, Gizmo, and Mammoth. Their pranks were usually pretty mild, an occasional kick or curse was the extent of their damage. Jinx was in the "gauntlet", a machine that was obviously geared to the student's strengths and weaknesses. The gauntlet was essentially a corridor created specifically for Jinx's needs.

Robin watched as Jinx went through the moves she needed. There was quite a bit of levitating involved, and it was really quite amazing watching her soar through the fire traps. While Robin didn't appreciate having to team up with the HIVE Academy, he couldn't help but love the skills involved with passing these obstacles.

Currently, Jinx was trying to obtain six trinkets that were hooked onto six pegs, spaced evenly on both sides of a long, somewhat wide, corridor. There was a door on both ends, although Robin wasn't sure what the second door was for, since Jinx entered and exited through the same door Robin now stood behind.

"I bet she's going to pass this level within the week," Gizmo said.

"Nah," Mammoth replied. "It always takes her at least a month to move up a level."

"What are you guys talking about?" Robin asked, speaking for the first time since Slade and the other masters left Robin and the others to practice their skill sets.

"What does it matter to you?" Gizmo sneered. He seemed to take offense to whatever Robin said, no matter the subject matter. "You could never pass this test without all your gadgets. Even then, you need to be a super-human to survive Jinx's test."

Robin looked at the screens that showed the entire corridor Jinx was in. It was formidable. The entire floor was hot from the occasional fire that shot up from it. If Jinx were to fall, it would definitely hurt. Fire also shot out from the pegs that the trinkets were hanging from, making Jinx's flight formidable as well.

Sure enough, only minutes later Jinx was hit by one of the pegs of fire, she was barely able to cry out "nullify" which shut down the entire system.

The floor immediately cooled down and Jinx was able to walk out with minimal bruising.

"You just need to be faster than the fire," Robin muttered under his breath, unaware that he was speaking out loud, he was so wrapped up his thoughts.

Gizmo heard him, and snapped, "As I _said_, no normal human could do it. Can you fly, bird brain? You're pitiful, Slade just doesn't realize it yet."

A bout of anger coursed through Robin. He did have a temper when it came right down to it, and these cliché insults regarding his "lack of abilities" stung him. This was not only an insult to Slade, which Robin did _not_ mind, but also an insult to Batman and every other human who could do great things without superpowers.

"What Jinx just tried to do?" Robin ask rhetorically, heading into his next statement, "...I can do it."

Jinx smirked, solidifying Robin's resolve to do the gauntlet. Without a pause, Jinx threw out: "Then do it."

Robin looked down at his t-shirt, jeans, workout gloves, and tennis shoes. He wished he had his uniform, which was resistant to extreme heat, but this was about being _human_, and he was dressed perfectly well for that.

"All right," Robin said, and walked to the steel door that Jinx had just exited through. "I'll see you in a few minutes."

_Don't be arrogant_, Robin thought briefly. _If you fail, this will only be more humiliating_.

Robin stood on the steel frame that would heat up when the HIVE students started the gauntlet. He wasn't allowed to act until the machine turned on.

_What are they doing?_ Robin began to wonder when, after a few minutes, the gauntlet didn't start. _ Probably locked me in here and left. Or, they're upping the level to make it more difficult_.

TTTTT

Sure enough, Gizmo and Jinx were working together to increase the level of the gauntlet. Normally, only the masters could do this, but Gizmo had already by-passed the security codes and Jinx was raising the level to the very top.

"The 'masters' level?" Gizmo asked, surprised when Jinx raised it to the highest level. She was not expected to take this test until she turned twenty-five years old.

"I say we humble him up a little," Jinx replied. "Do Slade a favor."

"It's going to be too much, and Slade won't be happy if he gets hurt. You know how the master gets, I'm just not sure that we should mess with 'his apprentice' that much."

"After a few burns, Robin will say "nullify," and it won't be a problem."

"Fair enough," Gizmo conceded, "but we turn it down if he's too stubborn to keep himself alive and uninjured, all right?"

"Deal," Jinx hit the Start button, and they all jumped when the metal door locked with an extra loud _clang_.

"Does that happen when I'm in there?" Jinx asked, suddenly unsure.

Both Mammoth and Gizmo shook their heads, "Never."

TTTTT

The masters' room contained several screens overlooking the entire academy. Usually, they remained blank unless there was something important going on that the masters needed to keep an eye on.

The "Master's Exam" was one of those "important" events. While it was kept private from the students because the drastic consequences of failure was sure to drive any student away from the academy, the master teachers had full access to viewing the students' final exams.

Each exam was customized to the student's talent, and the student had years of training to build up to his or her final exam. So when the television screens turned on, and the text at the bottom stated, "_Jinx: Master's Exam_," each of the masters felt their jaws drop. Slade, on the other hand, stood up.

He was staring at the second screen, which always focused on the student. It wasn't Jinx who stood there, but his apprentice, Robin.

"What's going on?" Slade asked. Even he knew the consequences of failing this exam: death. Any failure of a master's exam resulted in death and always by the gauntlet itself. This particular death would be by fire. It would be particularly gruesome, as failure meant being roasted alive.

The headmistress couldn't seem to take her eyes off the screen, "Something must be wrong," she finally said. "The boy couldn't possibly be in the master's exam, we have it highly restricted."

"Gizmo," said two of the masters, almost at the same time.

Slade felt his blood go cold. This very well may be it. The end of Robin. The test was created as a final exam, and meant to kill _anyone_ who failed. It was meant for Jinx, when she was a professional, and this test would be challenging but not impossible. Not for a young teenager without superpowers to protect him in the furnace.

But part of Slade remembered why he picked Robin as an apprentice...it was because Robin, the Boy Wonder, could beat the average master, with or without powers. So perhaps he could beat this exam.

But it just wasn't worth the risk.

"Shut it down," Slade ordered.

The headmistress shook her head. "The exam is meant to be final. No pity for a student can stop its consequences."

"Then override the system."

"The exam will only last fifteen minutes. By the time we come close to overriding the system we will be too late," the headmistress let out. While she did hide her fear well, Slade could see she was terrified. _ She should be_, Slade thought, _she may have lost me the perfect apprentice. She should be quivering right now_.

Slade turned and watched as the floor began to heat up. Spurts of fire were shooting out of their pegs and the floor wildly, and the walls had steady streams of blazing hot fire that could melt the flesh of a person's bones.

_Show them why I made you my apprentice_, was the last thought Slade had before Robin began his fight.

TTTTT

Within five seconds of the gauntlet starting, Robin knew the levels had been rigged like nuts. These wouldn't be minor burns, they'd be serious.

Robin thought about calling "nullify" and ending it immediately, but wouldn't it be great to beat them at their own game?

The floor was heating up, and Robin jumped to the first peg on the wall before the floor melted his shoes off. Again, it wouldn't cause minor burns...they'd be serious. The floor turned a molten red of criss-crossing wires.

Right now, Robin was in a different kind of danger. The peg he stood on was shooting out flames, just as every other peg was doing. But they moved wildly, and it was all Robin could do to not be hit by one of them. Since his own peg was moving, balance was another major concern.

Robin reached down and grabbed the first trinket, which looked like a red "L." Not a second after he had to dodge the fireball aimed right at the peg.

Robin made it to the second peg without hitting the ground, his entire body was covered in sweat, and his breathing came in shallow pants.

_Not enough oxygen_, Robin thought. He looked up to see tiny vents in the ceiling allowing the worst of the heat to escape. _If it were not for those vents, I'd be roasted already._

Robin already spent too much time on the second peg, so he grabbed the second trinket and made a dodge for the third. But it was a learning machine that sensed the trinkets and now the third peg was being aimed at with the fire. Robin saw this before it was too late and jumped to the ceiling instead. The "vents" burned his fingers through his gloves, but Robin had to wait nearly ten seconds before he could fall to the third peg and grab the trinket.

Robin's hands were blistered through the gloves, and Robin realized how much trouble he was already in. _When I get out of here_, Robin thought, _Slade will kill me_.

In the time it took Robin to think that, the wall began to light on fire starting from the first peg. His body protested when Robin leaped from the wall to the other side. Robin tucked into a ball when he made the leap, and winced as he felt a burst of fire hit his left side. Robin's shirt started on fire, and he quickly tried to pound it out.

Only half way done, with only one less trinket than what Jinx had, Robin gave up, figuring the trouble was just not worth it.

"Nullify," Robin croaked. Nothing happened. Robin's mouth was beyond dry, so he cleared his throat again and yelled "nullify!" a little louder.

Nothing happened.

"Okay, guys," Robin croaked, "I give up. You've had your fun."

Still, nothing changed inside the room except that it had grown hotter. "Look, I really don't want to get into trouble, okay? And I'm sure you don't either."

Nothing happened.

"All right," Robin said almost to himself. At this point, he knew there were three options: he beat this, the HIVE students let him out, or he was roasted alive. Roasted Robin. Yummy. "I'll warn you," Robin continued, angry in the heat of the room, "when I'm out of here, you will have made a serious enemy of me."

Robin jumped to the other side, using the hot roof as a pivot point. His already blistered hands now screamed as they hit the hotter ceiling. When Robing hit the fourth peg, he didn't pause to grab the trinket, instead bypassing it to reach the opposite peg. He paused before he grabbed the trinket, trying to get some oxygen in the air that threatened to take his skin off.

_Only two more_. Robin thought, as his body started to heave in exhaustion. _ And I can do it now, or never_. He narrowed down his options to two, now, because he knew the HIVE students were not going to put an end to this.

Robin ripped his shirt sleeves and wrapped the tattered garments around his hands, since his gloves were growing too thin to be much protection. His hands were bleeding through the gloves, and ugly red blood oozed from his side where he had been struck earlier. Robin knew his next two jumps were vital, even as he perched on one tiny peg.

With his hands as protected as they could be, Robin leaned down, grabbed the trinket, and then shot to the middle peg so fast the gauntlet didn't have time to react.

The moment Robin had the sixth and final trinket, he jumped to the ceiling, taking in tiny gasps of air near the vent, and waited for the room to cool down.

TTTTT

"Turn it off, turn it off!" Jinx screamed as Gizmo worked furiously at the panel. Tears ran down her cheeks from when she saw Robin's blistered hands and bloody shirt. They were going to be in so much trouble.

"I can't! It's like the room has its own wiring, not connected to this!" Gizmo replied, his whole body trembling. Mammoth tried to crush the door, but it wasn't going to budge.

None of them had missed Robin's croaks, and they knew there was a strong possibility they had killed the kid...or at least permanently damaged him.

Jinx put her hands over her ears to block Robin's cry of anger when the room didn't turn off after he obtained the six keys.

TTTTT

"It's the master's exam," A master spoke up, when Robin hung from the ceiling while waiting. None of them, except Slade, believed Robin would ever make it this far. All six trinkets. But now it appeared to be over, because Robin didn't know that he had to open the master's door with the six trinkets. "He needs to get to the other side with the keys."

"Isn't there some way to communicate with him?" Slade demanded to know.

"Of course not, that would be cheating in the master's room," The headmistress answered softly.

Slade looked around the master's room, there had to be something.

There! Attached to Robin's wrist in the exam room, was the tracker. It had a green light whenever it was on, and red when it was turned off. Did Robin know Morse code? _He'd better_.

TTTTT

Robin hung from the ceiling, crying out when his bandaged hands burned on the ceiling wires. If he dropped now, it would be to his very painful death. He was hanging close to the wall, since there seemed to be oxygen there and there was too much heat closer to the center of the room.

A light flashed, and his hazy mind cleared a little when he saw his tracker turn red.

But then it turned green again, no...red. Was it malfunctioning in the heat? Robin raised his arm a little to watch it in curiosity.

_Morse code_. Robin thought, his mind finally registering the pattern.

t-r-i-n-k-e-t-s-k-e-y-s-o-p-p-o-s-i-t-e-d-o-o-r

Trinkets, keys, opposite door. Robin took out the trinkets he had been stashing in his pockets, which had thankfully remained intact. Looking at them, Robin realized that at least two of them fit together.

Robin raised his feet and hooked his shoes through the criss-crossing vented ceiling. The soles of his shoes had already begun burning off, and he knew his feet were injured as well. After this, he may never be able to fight again.

Hanging from the ceiling by his feet and wedged-up back, Robin used his hands to piece together the trinkets into a key. It was a relatively simple puzzle, which Robin was grateful for.

_The opposite door,_ Robin thought, and looked to the other side of the room, to the door which Jinx had never exited through.

There were no vents in the ceiling over there, Robin first saw with dread, and no pegs close by to leap from. It was a solid fifteen feet to the door, so certainly, it looked like Robin was going to die in this nightmare.

Robin looked at the key in his hand. He had to do this, or die trying. He was not about to fall to his death. With no air left, Robin swung to the right wall, that was now on fire, and vaulted over the pegs. He needed speed.

He couldn't make it fifteen feet, but if he made it twelve feet, used his back to take the brunt of the molten metal of the ground, and used that force to propel him through the last few feet, he might make it to the door. Would he have the presence of mind to insert the key at that point? That remained to be seen.

Robin hit the last peg, and flew through the air. His body screamed in agony when he twisted to land only his back on the criss-crossing glowing-red wires of the floor, but he was able to use his speed and acrobatic skills to lift off from the floor and propel his body into the door.

For a brief moment, Robin nearly fell back to his death. But his fingers caught on to a dent in the wall and he used his right hand to grasp the key and insert it into the lock. His mind raced, his fear beginning to overwhelm the adrenaline rush that had carried him this far. This was it. If the gauntlet wasn't over, he was dead.

Robin almost fell back to the ground when the door clicked open and a rush of cold air hit him. His body threatened to shut down at the sudden and drastic change of temperature, and Robin couldn't control his shaking any longer. His hand slipped, but a glowing pink caught him before he hit the floor.

Jinx was here.

TTTTT

The moment the door opened, Jinx could hear the gush of air from down the hallway. She cried out, "Move!" and went running for the exit to the gauntlet. The exit was close, and it only took one hit from Mammoth to break down the door blocking the gauntlet. She still couldn't see Robin, but knew he was probably clutching the other side of the door. Without being able to see him, she sent out a wave of magic to levitate the boy inside.

She succeeded and soon a shaking Robin came into view. His body was seizing, and every few seconds he dry heaved, his body too weak to do much else. He didn't seem to be entirely conscious, but when Jinx moved to grab him physically, Robin flinched violently away from her. Once again, she began to cry.

TTTTT

Slade breathed a sigh of relief, as did everyone else, when Jinx caught Robin. For the first time, Slade realized he should have been the one to catch Robin, but he hadn't been able to pull himself from the monitors long enough to meet his apprentice himself.

Now, though, he ran. With every master following his pace, Slade did have to worry about preserving his dignity. Within a minute, Slade made it to Robin and found his apprentice hurting himself further, trying to escape from the clutches of the HIVE students.

Slade was not a gentle man, but even as he roughly pushed the HIVE students away, he carefully pulled Robin into a position that took the pressure off the boy's burned side. With a second swift movement Slade tore the boy's tattered shirt off him and surveyed the damage.

Robin didn't protest being manhandled by Slade. Now that the only remaining threat his tortured mind could muster—the HIVE students—was away, Robin began to relax. The violent shivers hadn't stopped, and Robin couldn't begin to control himself on his own, but he was no longer terrified.

Luckily, Slade saw this and quickly turned to Robin's face, allowing Master Payne to tend to the mess below. And it was a mess. The worst of it was oozing blood, the skin burned so deep. The outer edge of Robin's burns looked like white charcoal.

Knowing that Robin's back would be even worse, Slade leaned the boy forward, his hand supporting Robin's head by carefully cradling the neck and chin, and looked at his back. The criss-crossing wounds would become another scar, even with magical healing.

"Robin," Slade finally said, leaning the shaking boy back again to look into his face. Robin did not meet his eye, his mind obviously being elsewhere in shock. Slade lightly slapped Robin's face until his apprentice looked in his direction. "I need you to take deep breaths. You're going into shock right now, and I need you to pull it together."

"Okay," Robin mumbled, and took several deep breaths, proving to Slade that he was listening to the man's words.

"Good," Slade said, and he looked at the healer, seeing the man bandaging Robin's side. "How does it look?"

"Well, he'll live, but I can't heal everything. Just the worst of the damage."

The man moved to Robin's back, and Slade pushed him away. "The hands next."

"His back will be hurting worse."

"But the injuries won't be permanent. His hand wounds will be. Devote the rest of your attention to his hands and feet."

The healer allowed white energy to flow from his hands into the boy's hands, carefully paying attention to his joints. Slade helped him out by removing the remains of the makeshift bandages, which had only remained because they were sticking to the boy's bloody flesh.

The hands looked horrible, scorched to the bone in some places, but soon enough the healer took care of that as well. He had to bandage the hands once new skin began to grow, but the worst of the danger was over. The feet were next, but luckily no joints had been burned and the man only took care of the worst burns on the soles of Robin's feet.

"Anything left for his back?" Slade asked still cradling Robin's small form. The other masters and students were forgotten.

"He'll have to tough it out, for now. His body has already had too much stress."

Sure enough, without Slade's attention, Robin began to shake more violently. Pulling the boy closer, Slade stroked his hair, trying to feel for a concussion at the same time. The boy's body was shutting down, which was fine so long as he would wake up again. Feeling no disturbing bumps, Slade motioned for the stretcher that was now waiting. The masters placed Robin on it, his bad side facing up so that the most serious of the burns were not pressed.

"You can rest now, Robin," Slade said, and he could already tell the boy was fading. Slade turned to the students. "It's time to talk."

TTTTT

Robin opened his eyes, pain finding its place as the dominant feeling in his body. It wasn't a fun way to wake up, even when pain was only caused by a good workout. But this was definitely not the pain of a good workout, it was blinding.

Robin was lying on his stomach, which he hated. He never could sleep on his stomach, something his mom used to tease him about so long ago. She used to tell him that as a baby, he learned within days how to roll onto his back because she kept placing the infant on his stomach.

Robin moved his arms down slowly, trying to lift himself into a more comfortable position. The aching pain in his side brought back countless memories, and Robin let his hands fall back to his sides.

He was still in the HIVE Academy, still Slade's apprentice. The memory of the fire, and his failure to beat the gauntlet without passing out later, burned in his mind, and Robin had to take deep breaths to calm himself down once again. He heard the door open, and held very still as footsteps walked past him. They didn't stop, and Robin breathed a sigh of relief.

He tried to once again to crawl to his hands and knees, and this time he noticed the tubes all over his arms. There were six total, and Robin began furiously pulling them out of his arm, mindless of the blood that began to seep out from the exit points. A monitor began to shrill when Robin dislodged something attached to his finger, and less than ten seconds later two sets of hands kept him from removing the last of the lines connecting his arms.

"My goodness, you really know how to make things difficult for yourself, don't you, Robin?" the voice of the healing master spoke from behind. Robin struggled to turn, but was too weak to fight off the gentle pressure from above. The voice spoke again, "You really don't want to turn over, boy. I couldn't do much for your back, so you'll have to heal naturally."

When Robin didn't resist any further, one set of hands left him to replace the oxygen tubes fitted around his nose, another thing he hadn't noticed when he first woke up.

"You should be grateful this little bit of oxygen is all you're going to need. I was thinking we might have to tube you to make sure your lungs wouldn't fail. But Slade said you would be fine, and the man was right!" The voice said again. Robin flinched when he heard the words 'tube' and 'throat,' and a hand rested on the back of his head. Why did people insist on petting his head? It made him feel too vulnerable having somebody touching such a vital part of his anatomy.

The moment Robin stilled, the hand left his head again and moved to his arm. The other set of hands remained, gently pressing Robin into the mattress. He was able to hold himself still until he felt a needle prick his arms.

"Don't," Robin croaked and coughed, and began to struggle again. Now, three pairs of hands held him down, the fourth set of hands lightly massaging Robin's forearm, waiting for his struggles to cease. There were too many of them surrounding him, when only one person was needed to do the job. Robin's struggles were pitiful, but he wasn't about to let them inject him with whatever chemicals they wanted. "Don't. Please don't."

"What's going on here?" Slade's voice came from behind, and Robin tried pulling his arms down to help himself back to his hands and knees. But the restraining hands were too heavy, and Robin could only tighten his fists in response. Slade moved around to Robin's face and knelt down so the boy could see more than just his stomach.

"Do not fight the doctors," Slade commanded, and put his hand on the back of Robin's head, low enough that it rested on part of his neck as well. Of course, this made Robin feel even more vulnerable, and Slade knew it. That was probably why the man did it. Slade fingered his hair a little, noting Robin's lack of response.

Slade nodded behind Robin's head, and Robin felt his arm being tugged straight. Robin's struggles only lasted a moment before Slade tightened his grip, and Robin couldn't help but be still. Still, when the needle was inserted into his arm, he flinched.

"How long have I been here?" Robin asked, his mouth dry. Slade motioned and the second pair of hands moved away from Robin. Now he was free except for Slade and the healer administering the lines.

"Two days," Slade said. "We didn't expect you to wake up for another week."

"I don't need the drugs."

A hand slipped under his arm, on Robin's left side, gently made its way to Robin's chest and throat. Tensing again at being touched in such vulnerable places by what he considered the enemy, Robin was forced to wait until the hand lifted him to his knees.

Slade's hand moved away from his head and a straw was positioned at Robin's lips.

"Drink," Slade commanded, and Robin eagerly obeyed. But he only got a few sips before Slade took it away. "Not too much, we can't have you getting nauseated right now." He placed the drink out of Robin's sight and he was lowered to the mattress again. The hand massaging his right arm inserted yet another needle, and Robin flinched again. "The lines are not feeding you drugs right now. The only one that is active is the IV drip. The others need to be in place in case your body begins to seize, or begins to fail from trauma."

Robin hated feeling this weak. Not just vulnerable, but incapable of even getting to his hands and knees without help. When the doctors finally finished and moved away, Robin lifted his head enough to look at Slade again. He studied the man's posture and attitude.

The last time Robin had been so seriously injured, so close to dying, was when Batman nearly fired him. Robin obviated the need for Batman to do so by simply walking out. Batman hadn't protested, and the arrangement seemed to work well for both parties.

"I'm sorry!" Robin blurted out, forgetting for a moment that it was Slade, and not Batman, he was talking to. Robin blushed and turned his face to the pillow.

"You should be," Slade said, anger now coloring his voice. "How long were you going to let the 'pranks' go on? I thought you could take care of them, or at least that you would come to me if they became too dangerous, but now look. Here we are, because you couldn't swallow your pride enough to ask for help."

Robin blushed furiously. "I fight my own battles."

"You're trying to defend yourself against the entire HIVE Academy. This isn't a small spat between two equal rivals on the same footing, and it will escalate into this again if you don't ask for help." Slade's voice was very dark now and Robin cringed at the thought of Slade standing between him and the HIVE. But as much as Robin wanted to take care of this on his own, deep down he knew it could, and probably would, escalate to this again.

"I didn't know they would try to kill me," Robin finally said.

"They didn't mean to. It was another prank of theirs, but they made a mistake and couldn't turn it off," Slade answered.

Just another prank? Then yes, it had risen to a level Robin didn't know if he could manage. But still, Slade protecting him? Robin couldn't bear the thought. "I can handle it."

"Use your brain, Robin," Slade snapped. "This juvenile desire to be independent clouds your judgment. There is no weakness in asking for help, unless you want to end up back here in a few weeks."

"I'll take care of it!" Robin snapped back. "I can take care of myself. I don't need you, or Batman, or the _Titans_, to protect me! If I can't handle myself then I shouldn't be here!"

Robin flinched and closed his mouth. Those were essentially the same words Batman first said to Robin when the boy woke up from his coma the year before. Never mind that it didn't make sense in this context, because Robin _didn't_ want to be here (rather, Slade was forcing him to be here against his will), but Robin needed to get this across to Slade.

The man leaned back for a moment, keeping his eye on Robin, who met his gaze unwavering. He had no clue what the older man was thinking, but did it really matter? Finally, Slade let out a sigh, but it didn't sound like a sigh of disappointment. More like...satisfaction?

"You sound like you're afraid you are not worthy to be here. I take that as a good thing, although something that needs to be addressed now."

Robin finally turned away, not caring anymore what Slade thought. But he turned Robin's head gently, but firmly, back toward him. Slade leaned close, and with carefully chosen words, he said, "I chose you because you are the best. You nearly passed a Master's Exam without help, and at only fifteen! I chose you because you are the only one who will live up to my expectations. I have seen your abilities, and I have seen what I can teach you to make you the ultimate prodigy. As your master, I expect you to fight your battles. I expect you to make me proud of who you are and how you represent me."

Slade kept a firm grip on Robin, even though he desperately wanted to look away. Slade looked over Robin's broken body, and returned Robin's gaze once more. "But also as your master, I am expected to protect you. When you are in trouble you cannot handle, you must turn to me for help. That's an order, not a request."

Bruce's request, when Robin was first about to enter Slade's clutches, came to mind. _Cooperate. Bide your time. Don't fight or try to escape until you know you will win. Without any doubt_.

When Slade finally let Robin go, he didn't say much. He didn't retaliate, or even mouth off. Robin knew his actions would satisfy Slade, but for once it didn't bother him enough to be concerned over whether or not the man was satisfied.

Slade smoothed Robin's hair over once more before leaving Robin alone to his thoughts.

**A/N: This is by far my favorite chapter, and it's about double the size as the rest of the chapters! Actually, this was the first chapter I wrote of this story, since the idea popped into my head a while ago and I just had to write it. So I hope you all enjoyed it!**

**Please review! They are the highlights of my day.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Friendship

Two weeks after the gauntlet incident, the hospital corridor found Robin standing next to his bed with Slade checking his intake papers. The man continued to flip through them, refusing to let Robin pass through the door until he was completely satisfied.

"It says on three of these reviews that you need another week to recover." Slade finally said, and Robin deliberately rolled his eyes when Slade was looking. He knew the man wouldn't hit him right now, certainly not if he thought Robin was too "weak" to handle it.

"And two of the doctors say I'm fine," Robin responded, shaking his head. "They're always too careful, and you know it. But if I stay another minute in this room I'm going to end up as insane as the Joker."

"Well, in that case..." he replied, and Robin could hear the smirk on his lips. He attempted to move around Slade again, but the man easily blocked him with one hand to his chest. "Not so fast. You're going to take it easy this next week. We'll see how you do with simple things first."

"I think we should spar," Robin said, itching to get some real exercise in.

Slade walked with him to the gym, but refused to spar, or even allow the teen to fight against the dummy. "You can practice bouldering," Slade said, "just be careful on your hands. The skin is still new."

Robin fingered his palms, knowing that his callouses were long gone. Burned off and replaced with new skin after the fire. This was partly why he wanted to get to work so quickly, even the healing had gotten him out of shape.

Slade left him alone in the bouldering room, which Robin was very grateful for. Bouldering was a different type of rock climbing, the walls were short so he didn't need a harness and a partner with him. It was more about the skills than anything else.

When Robin climbed onto the wall, it wasn't long before he noticed sharp pains in his hands. Ignoring them for the moment, because pain was a part of growing stronger, Robin continued his ascent. He jumped from a rock four feet to the left, barely grabbing onto the final rock before falling to the ground. One of his fingers split open, and he grabbed some tape and wrapped it around his fingers to stop the bleeding.

Back on the wall, Robin was working on a particularly difficult climb when Mammoth, Gizmo, and Jinx walked in. He only took a few seconds to climb down, having been nearly parallel to the floor when they walked in, and stood straight before them. He wasn't about to show fear of them, even though he was very aware that they had nearly killed him just a few weeks before.

Jinx walked forward first, reaching out to grab Robin's hand, which had blood starting to show through the white bandage. He took a few quick steps back, before growling, "What do you want?"

"I'm sorry," Jinx said. "We're sorry. We were stupid, and we nearly got you killed, and we're sorry for that."

Robin looked them in the eyes. Even Mammoth who towered above him, right now, with Robin as weak and alone as he was, it wouldn't be difficult for even one of them to take him down. Yet they seemed genuinely penitent.

He nodded, trying to hide the desperation, he finally asked, "Can we come to a truce? Just for a while?"

They eagerly nodded their heads, and then turned their faces toward the bouldering room door. It was set just off the gym, so Robin knew they were wary of walking outside, right now. "You can stay here if you like. I'm just bouldering, you can join me."

Even Gizmo, who usually seemed so cocky, hesitated. "Actually, we had better go. Slade doesn't want us around you, but we wanted to apologize while we had the chance."

Robin nodded, a little peeved. Apparently, Slade had already begun fighting his battles for him. They quickly left, and he began bouldering again, not nearly as enthusiastic this time around. About half an hour later, Slade came in.

He immediately walked over to Robin and caught his hand. "I told you to take it easy."

"I did," Robin responded, still a little miffed. "I just need to work up to it. It will take some time."

"Did you really think that putting tape around your fingers was going to help anything?" The man said, starting to peel the tape off.

Now that Robin thought about it, it really didn't make sense. "It protected my hands from getting worse."

"Then perhaps you should start with it next time, and not tape up your old injuries."

"You told the HIVE to stay away from me," Robin said, looking at Slade in the eye.

"I did."

"I asked you not to fight my battles. I can handle myself," Robin said, just as Slade pulled the remaining tape off. It tore his finger a little more, and he hissed in pain.

"Until their punishment is determined, they will remain away from you." Slade replaced the tape with an antiseptic and a band-aid.

"What will their punishment be? I thought it was an accident."

They walked out of the bouldering gym and into the main room. They were still the only ones around, since Jinx, Gizmo, and Mammoth had obviously high-tailed it out of there. "They broke some serious rules, and engaged in reckless behavior. We are considering a delivery to the Gotham police may be appropriate under the circumstances."

A cold chill rushed over Robin's body. Gotham was notorious for the city's harsh prisons. Even Juvenile Detention had a bad reputation for its residents. Because it housed so many of the most dangerous criminals, it could very well be a death sentence for the students.

"Don't do that," Robin finally said. "It was an accident. If you want to kick them out, go ahead."

"The decision will be up to you," Slade responded. "If you want to make that decision for them, it will be your right. The Headmistress has already agreed to this."

"Do they know?" Robin asked, thinking of Jinx, Mammoth, and Gizmo walking in to apologize. Perhaps they were never really sorry, just hoping for a more lenient punishment from him.

"Not yet," Slade said, and Robin breathed a sigh of relief. This was good news.

"Then let them stay if they want to," he said. "If they want to become villains, that is their right."

Slade paused. "I never thought I would hear you say you would let somebody chose to commit a crime while you are around."

"I'm not. If they want to go to a school of crime, it's really not going to be any different from what they'll learn in Juvie, but from people who are much more sane."

TTTTT

The punishment was minimal, detention every evening for three weeks, and it turned out to be the best decision Robin ever made. The students were grateful enough to help him through the next few weeks, since he wasn't strong enough to help himself.

Gizmo no longer mocked Robin for being a "snot brain". Jinx never called him pitiful, and Mammoth appeared genuinely happy to see Robin whenever he was around. In fact, after the initial awkwardness wore off they seemed to protect Robin from the older students, who had always been more vicious than them.

Robin still had to worry about chemicals being switched, but Jinx blocked the explosions before they hurt him too bad. The machines were still tampered with, but Gizmo would often recognize a flaw before Robin would be caught unaware.

They even began playing games on their off-time, which Robin was grateful for because he desperately needed time away from Slade. They didn't talk very much in the evening, but they were still around each other and Robin hated being cooped up in his little room.

They were currently playing a truth game, where each player had to honestly answer a question that didn't relate to secret identities. If he or she lied, a bell would ring (Gizmo had attached their fingers to a machine he built specifically for the game), and the player would have to do something embarrassing. The next embarrassing event would involve putting on makeup and wearing it for the rest of day. While it would be the least embarrassing for Jinx as a female player, she was adamant that she would not lose this round. She desperately wanted to see one of the boys wearing makeup. Robin would only have to wear blush and lipstick, of course, but he was not about to do that.

Robin had just passed the last round, with everybody laughing at his answer to the most trouble he had ever been in (the students loved hearing about his dark side, for whatever reason). He had been twelve years old when he first stole the motorcycle right out from Batman's nose. While the general public had believed Batman always trusted him to use a motorcycle at such a young age, it certainly hadn't started out that way. Robin had been grounded for two weeks after stealing the bike to take care of nothing more than a petty crime in the city, and it took another six months before Batman finally conceded that he was able to handle the bike well.

"All right, all right. Answer this," Gizmo said, "Who is your favorite superhero?"

"You're kidding," Jinx said, and Robin couldn't help but laugh at the question. She looked at Robin slyly, "Well, I guess I can't say Robin here, but I think Green Arrow. He's hot."

"Batman," Mammoth replied, not thinking about Robin being in the room. "Cool."

"He does have the coolest toys," Gizmo said, and he turned to Robin. "And of course we don't need to ask you."

Robin nodded, a small smile on his face. "Superman does rock."

That forced a startled laugh out of everybody. "You're kidding! Superman? That doesn't seem fair to Batman."

"Yeah, Batman doesn't think so either," Robin laughed, feeling a little homesick. "But really, Superman can beat Batman anytime."

"I beg to differ, punk," Gizmo responded. "Batman has his gadgets, and everybody knows he keeps Kryptonite with him, so it wouldn't be hard for him to beat Superman."

"Ah, the never-ending debate," Another student in the class piped up, quite a few of the students seemed to be listening in, and Robin couldn't help but find it amusing. "Batman or Superman?"

"We should start a poll," aAnother person said, and everybody laughed. Robin smiled again, Batman really was his favorite, but not because he was "cooler" than Superman. Robin still thought the Man of Steel was cooler and more fun, but for obvious reasons Robin had deeper affection for Batman.

"Not until I have my turn," Jinx said, she seemed giddy, and Robin realized he had never seen any of the HIVE students this easy-going. On the other hand, they had probably never seen Robin this easy-going either. "Who's your favorite villain?"

Robin lost his smile, and noticed a few others watching him did as well. Images of guns shooting at him on the tops of Gotham sky-rises, mangled corpses in alleyways, blank eyes of children staring at him...when Robin was no more than a child himself.

"Joker," Gizmo said, and Robin's mind flashed to an image of bloody faces.

"Two-Face," Mammoth rumbled, and an image of a flashing gun and shooting pains in his spine made the blood drain from Robin's face.

"So does that mean you're voting for Lex Luthor?" Jinx asked, and Robin remembered seeing his surrogate uncle sitting in the Batcave, broken after failing to save a hospital from burning to the ground with dozens of innocent people still inside.

Rather than answer Jinx or cause a scene, Robin responded with the first name that came to his mind that would certainly pass as a truth. "Red X."

"Red X," came a chorus of voices, and Robin knew he had picked somebody cool enough for the academy to leave him alone.

"I didn't think of Red X," Jinx said, "but I think he's my favorite too."

"I remember when he took down the Teen Titans, just like that!" Gizmo said, snapping his fingers.

Robin felt the blood drain from his face once again. Although it was the biggest mistake of his life, he had honestly been talking about the Red X who succeeded in stealing the suit and committing thefts...since that was the true villain.

Though Red X had never killed anybody, to date, and because of that Robin didn't have the same nightmares from him. Truthfully, Robin wasn't honestly afraid of any of the Jump City villains...except for Slade, perhaps...if one could call that fear. But Slade didn't really belong to Jump City, he was a higher-class villain who could generally be found in Metropolis or Gotham, not sunny Jump City.

"He kind of got lame after a while," the student who spoke earlier said. "Now he just steals jewelry and chemicals, but he doesn't do anything big anymore."

"No offense, Robin," Gizmo stated, with a smirk on his face. "But we all knew Slade was looking for an apprentice, and while he insinuated it was going to be you we all thought it should be the Red X who took out the Titans."

Robin flushed. This was a huge mistake.

"Well, I was talking about the later Red X," Robin said, he really didn't want the Red X villain he had portrayed to be the one everybody admired. "And only when Red X popped up later. He seems like an all right guy, some of the time."

"You should be picking a Gotham villain," Gizmo said, "you know them better than anyone."

All right, Robin thought, time to tell them exactly why Gotham villains are unworthy of admiration. Robin lifted his sleeve and held out his arm. Where the gloves normally covered his arms when he wore his suit, and where his long sleeves currently covered the scars, there were obvious markings.

Torture. Robin knew the HIVE students would recognize the scars of torture when they saw it. Along with the healing burns that were visible, there were scars that crossed his arms and continued up where Robin's sleeves still covered them.

Robin had scars on his arms, back, chest, stomach, legs... he knew he was covered in scars, but he only needed to show these to the HIVE students to get the understanding he needed.

"It's hard to admire a Gotham villain when you've found yourself under his knife," Robin said casually, "or seen the mutilated victims."

The room was quiet, enabling Robin to hear the door open. He looked over, and saw Slade coming toward him. Robin had never seen one of Slade's victims, since Slade obviously wanted him to stay away from that side of crime now that he was under Slade's tutelage.

"Have I missed something?" Slade began, walking over to Robin. Slade sensed something had happened between the newly created friends, and he wanted to know exactly what it was.

"We were just talking about our favorite villains," Jinx piped up, trying to lighten the mood. "Robin was saying his favorite was Red X, but only after he became lame."

Robin almost choked, glancing up at Slade in embarrassment, "I didn't...!"

"I'm sure his favorite is you, though!" Jinx said, thinking Robin was afraid he was going to get in trouble if he hadn't picked Slade as his favorite criminal. Of course, that wasn't it at all. No, Slade knew exactly who the early Red X was, and looking into the man's eye Robin knew he was going to tell these HIVE students, right now.

"Don't..." Robin stuttered, but he knew it was useless. He usually respected Robin's privacy, but they both knew this was something Slade would be proud of. Robin as Red X was something Slade could, and would, show off.

Robin decided he would beat Slade to the punch, and try to lessen the blow, so to speak. "When Red X came later, that wasn't the original Red X. I was trying to catch Slade," Robin grew red once more, "so I created Red X."

Nobody spoke for a few seconds, and then Mammoth grinned, "You took out the Teen Titans."

"That was you?!" Gizmo said, looking at Robin with a whole new level of respect. "You were the cool Red X? Man, you are the best villain ever! What did you use to power the suit?"

Robin cursed under his breath, and while he knew the students would never leave this alone, he decided to ignore them and turn to Slade. "Did you need something?"

"Yes. I have a project for you to work on," Slade said, and Robin quickly stood up, responding quicker than usual to avoid the HIVE questions he was sure would continue whenever he returned.

**A/N: thanks for reading, y'all! So I want to give some advance warning. I'm leaving Friday morning for a two-week vacation, so you won't be seeing any updates from November 30th through to December 15th. I'll submit an update before I leave, so you'll have another update before this coming Friday morning or so, but I wanted to make sure you all knew!**

**Thanks for the reviews! I treasure every one.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thanks for the patience, everybody. Read my note at the end of the chapter if you have the time, it will explain the hiatus for you.**

**Chapter 8**: **Every-Day Trials**

Four months had gone by from the time Robin joined the Academy. He had a new routine, and could always keep up with the news through the cafeteria televisions. They were always left on now, so at least Robin could keep up with current events. Nothing out of the ordinary was really happening. Joker had escaped Arkham Asylum a while back, and Robin knew Batman's time would have to be spent more for catching the insane villain than looking for Robin.

Indeed, Robin knew now that it would be a while before any of the heroes found him, if they ever did. It was a daunting thought, and every few days a bout of homesickness would overwhelm Robin. At least he now had friends here, and they got him through the worst of the homesickness.

Every time Robin felt as though he could go no further, Slade seemed to appear next to him. If Slade was absent, Robin could always seek out his new friends. They had even greater respect for Robin knowing that the Boy Wonder had a dark side to him, which wasn't exactly something Robin was proud of.

But even though he had the respect of his class, the older students constantly hounded him. One student, who went by the name of Warfiend (and Robin still couldn't get over how lame that was) could not get over the fact that Slade had chosen Robin over _him_. He was bigger, he was stronger, and he had the power to create ice crystals that, when thrown, exploded on impact.

Of course, being a villain, Warfiend couldn't let his jealousy go.

Robin was late for his first class one morning after training with Slade, and he knew Warfiend and his gang left the training room shortly after he did. Slade had left before any of them, telling Robin to put away the equipment before leaving, not realizing that Robin was not yet friends with _everyone _at HIVE Academy.

Robin could hear Warfiend's heavy footsteps behind him and he knew trouble had met up with him once again. While he had been jogging to get to his class as quickly as possible, he began to slow down in preparation for the attack he knew was going to happen.

"Hey, bird-brain! I want to talk to you."

Robin turned around, slightly nervous. There were five boys in Warfiend's gang, and even though it had been a while he was still healing from the gauntlet. If they all attacked, he was going to go down.

"What do you want?" Robin asked.

"You think you're so clever," Warfield said, and with a nod two of the gang members moved to stand on either side of Robin. "You think you're so strong," Warfiend took a step closer to Robin, and Robin clenched his gloveless hands. Warfiend continued, "but really you're just a pitiful little boy who's in too far over his head."

Now that, Robin could agree with. He was in far over his head with Slade. The mastermind criminal had succeeded in proving that over the last few months. The man's intelligence, strength, and experience could be somewhat overwhelming.

"You need to be taken down a notch," Warfiend said, and with that he attacked.

Had it just been Warfiend, Robin would have had a chance of succeeding in defending himself. But with four other teenagers, each with powers of their own and years of training, Robin really didn't stand a chance.

Robin took out two of the students before a third struck him in the jaw and knocked him down. The impact on his healing wounds stunned him long enough for Warfiend's remaining gang members to grab him by each arm and hoist him up.

Robin grimaced as Warfiend struck him across the face. "Now...what should we do with you?" Warfiend pondered, looking at him thoughtfully. "How do we show the world who you really are?"

Looking into Warfiend's eyes, Robin knew it was going to be something humiliating.

He was right.

"Strip him." Warfiend said, pulling a marker out from his shoulder bag. "Let's tie him up, color him a bit, and leave him in the cafeteria. We'll see what Slade thinks of him when he has no dignity left."

That was all the confirmation Robin needed. They were doing this because they were jealous of Robin. Jealous that Slade had chosen him over one of them. They _were _going to humiliate Robin, no doubt about it. On the bright side, maybe Slade really wouldn't want Robin after seeing him humiliated.

Although this really wasn't the method Robin would have chosen to persuade Slade to chose someone else as his apprentice.

The moment one of the boys loosened his hold to pull Robin's shirt off him, Robin pulled hard and freed his arm. He kicked hard, and the boy on his other side went down.

A strike to the back of Robin's head knocked him to his hands and knees only seconds later. Warfiend and another gang member flatted Robin on his stomach. With his arms pinned next to him, Robin tried to buck them off but found he couldn't.

Only then did Robin realize he should have triggered the alarm on his tracker to alert Slade. This wasn't just a joke, Warfiend was seriously going to hurt Robin.

Warfiend pulled off Robin's shirt, and Robin tried to jerk away as he felt the cold tip of the marker writing on his back. He didn't know what Warfiend was writing, but he knew it wasn't going to be friendly.

Another set of hands pressed Robin's shoulders down, and Robin realized one of the gang members had woken up. _Just great_.

"That's funny." One of the boys said, and Robin tried to twist out of his grip. Whatever Warfiend was writing, it wouldn't be funny to him.

Robin cursed, and Warfiend laughed. "I guess we can write that too."

Just when Robin thought the worst was over, Warfiend grabbed his jeans and began to tug them down.

Robin fought viciously when he realized they were really going to strip him and tie him up in the HIVE cafeteria. He didn't get far, as the boys laughed, pinned him down again, and Robin found his head being smashed into the floor.

Just when Robin felt them tugging down his jeans, tracing the marker down to write whatever embarrassing statement they had, Robin heard somebody shout, "Stay away from him!"

It sounded so much like Starfire for a moment, Robin couldn't stop the feeling of exhilaration sweep through him. The boys holding him down were thrown off Robin, and Robin quickly jumped to his feet and turned around to face Jinx, Mammoth, and Gizmo.

Robin quickly backed out of the center of the group and next to his HIVE friends. The next two minutes were some of the most enjoyable minutes of Robin's life. It felt _good_ to fight with a team again, even if it couldn't be his own.

When the four gang members were passed out on the floor, and Warfiend was running away, Robin turned to his friends. "Thanks."

Gizmo nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. "They're stinkin' jerks. Every one of them. Our class needs to stick tight, but right now they're focusing on you.

"Apparently. Thanks again," Robin said. He pulled his shirt on and turned around, walking back to the gym.

"Where are you going?" Jinx asked.

"Going back to the gym," Robin replied. "I need to get this gunk off of me."

"We'll go with you," Mammoth said, as he came to walk beside Robin.

As humiliated as Robin was at the moment, now that the adrenaline had died and he was facing his new friends after the most recent defeat, he couldn't help the warmth rushing over him. Then the "Boy Wonder" looked at this group of villains, and realized the mistake he was making.

These _villains _were becoming Robin's friends. Robin didn't move, shifting his eyes carefully at the trio standing before him. Was this not exactly the type of situation Slade would want? Wouldn't this only help the villain, for Robin to be friends with the enemy? Robin did not entirely understand Stockholm Syndrome, but he did understand that he was at risk of becoming emotionally attached, which would only begin the other symptoms of the disorder. No, it was too late to avoid emotional attachment, but he needed to distance himself from them.

"No," Robin finally said, backing up from Mammoth and the others. "No, just-just leave me alone."

Jinx looked about ready to protest, when Gizmo rested a hand on her arm. Gizmo was too smart for his own good, which frustrated Robin to no end, and the boy could see the young villain knew exactly why Robin was beginning to rebel.

"We're not trying to make you 'join' our side, numnuts." Gizmo said, not moving any closer but noting Robin's stillness. "We want to be friends, and not just because we owe you one for not sending us to a Gotham prison."

"Then why?" Robin finally asked. It was starting to become clear to him. The HIVE was not only intended to be a prison for him while Slade trained him, it was also meant to be an _influence_ on Robin. The feeling of rejection washed over Robin, and he wished he didn't have to realize how dependent he had become on his class members.

Robin didn't wait for his friends to respond. The truth was that even if they didn't believe they were pawns in Slade's game to win Robin over, they were exactly that: pawns.

TTTTT

It was a week after that before Robin nearly lost his will to fight entirely.

Slade and Robin were sparring, and Robin could feel his sweat trickling into his eyes slowly. He was ever grateful for his mask, since it protected his eyes from the burning sweat that would have impeded his sight.

"Aim for my throat, Robin," Slade demanded, jumping back from Robin's low kick. Robin quickly spun out of the kick before Slade could grab his leg, and moved into his next offensive posture.

Robin had fought Slade many times before, _many many _times before this day, but it wasn't until this morning that one of Robin's offensive punches went wild, and very nearly smashed in Slade's throat. Neither of them expected the punch, since Robin had been going for technique over a true offense at the time, but the manner of the punch became a perfectly executed side swipe that would easily kill a man on impact.

Robin couldn't pull his punch in the quarter of a second it took for his mind to register that he was about to kill Slade, that he was about to become a _killer_, when Slade did something that shocked him.

With lightning speed, Slade caught Robin's fist just as it hit his neck and flipped his apprentice onto his back.

In shock, Robin looked up into Slade's eye, not even attempting to stand up. Slade grabbed Robin under both elbows and lifted him to his feet. "Control, Robin. You must never let your control get away from you or you might do something you regret."

"I'm-I'm sorry," Robin finally gasped. He had nearly broken every moral code he stood for by even coming close to killing Slade on accident.

"You should be, but not for the reasons for which you are apologizing." Slade said. "It was an accident, and you do not need to be sorry for that. You _should_ be sorry for losing your focus during our training. The consequences could be severe."

Robin nodded, taking a step back from Slade. He knew the villain was likely to start up again. He raised his arms to block the upcoming blow he expected.

Then it clicked. Slade had blocked that hit. That wild, unanticipated, and perfectly executed blow that should have killed Slade in a slow and choking death. The sudden realization made Robin stop in his steps.

"You..you're going _easy _on me? Robin asked, taking a step back. The realization that Slade was better than he let on, was so much better than Robin at fighting, was nearly terrifying. "You go _easy_ on me, don't you?"

"I am here to teach you, Robin," Slade said, his arms still raised in an attack position but without advancing forward. "I am as hard on you as I need to be."

"But..." Robin faltered, when Slade fought he was clearly better than Robin, but just how much better? Robin swallowed, and raised his hands. "Give me everything."

"Excuse me?" Slade asked. Neither of them were advancing, for which Robin was glad of at the moment. He needed to know just how good Slade really was. Robin needed to know just how outclassed _he_ was.

"Show me how good you are," Robin said. "I want to know."

"And I don't care to injure you, Robin." Slade said, and he finally took a half-hearted punch. Robin took that as a sign that Slade was considering his request, and tried again.

"You won't. Let me see," Robin pleaded. This was more than curiosity for Robin, it was an issue of pride. The thought of Slade being skilled enough to go _easy_ on Robin offended Robin's dignity.

Slade seemed to consider him for a moment, before finally nodding. "We'll spend five minutes on this, and then we're going to train again. Agreed?"

Robin nodded, and prepared himself.

Slade's attack came so swiftly, so aggressively, Robin didn't have time to block the sideswipe before he found himself on his back, pinned by Slade's boot.

"Holy crap," Robin gasped. Slade moved his foot aside and Robin quickly jumped up.

This time, Robin took the aggressive stance and tried to hit Slade. Slade dodged the attack, clearly not holding back this time around, and shoved Robin down by his shoulders.

Robin found himself on his back again.

This time, when Robin got up, he couldn't help but recognize that Slade was in a whole different class of fighter. It was not only clear that Slade was far better than Robin, but it was clear that Slade was in a whole different class from Batman himself.

For the first time, Robin realized he couldn't beat Slade. Not just now, and not just in every physical battle he would ever have with Slade...Robin just couldn't beat him. Unless Slade let him go, Robin wouldn't get away. Not even Batman could stop him.

The realization hurt, even moreso because of his experience with Gizmo, Jinx, and Mammoth. Robin had barely spoken to them since he realized they were pawns utilized by Slade to encourage his apprentice to join him. The three villains encouraged Robin to come to them, but Robin was trying to distance himself from them. Only in an effort to preserve his own sanity.

Slade must have seen something in Robin's posture, because he didn't attack again. Instead, he took a step back and raised his hands to show he wasn't threatening Robin. The sight shook Robin out of his reverie and he looked into Slade's eye.

"I'll never be as good as you," Robin finally said, his stomach sick. "You could have beat me so many times before. Why didn't you? I never had a chance, why did you let me think I did?"

"I never had a good opportunity to take you before. There were too many risks. You're teammates were always in the way."

"You could have taken down any one of the Teen Titans," Robin replied, there was no reason to claim otherwise. They both knew it, although it was a new realization for Robin. "Any one of them or all of us together."

"There were too many risks to _you,"_ Slade clarified. "I couldn't anticipate each contingency, and your friends would have done more harm to you than good. They wouldn't beat me, but their fighting could have killed you."

"You're better than the League of Shadows," Robin commented. Batman had been trained by the League of Shadows, but Slade was beyond that level of skill.

"Yes. I have had many years to learn," Slade responded. "True fighting is not about who is stronger, or even who is faster, but who has the greater skills and expertise."

Robin couldn't help but nod along with Slade. Considering he was smaller than nearly every villain he had fought against in Gotham, and his speed only took him so far, he couldn't _help_ but agree with Slade. There were faster, stronger men out there, but without the training they were only potential threats and nothing more.

"Many years?" Robin said, remembering some of the whispers he had heard about Slade. Some believed him to be immortal, although Robin had never believed Slade to be anything other than human. Now he began to wonder, and he felt as though cold water was sliding down his back.

"You'll understand in time." Slade said, eyeing him closely. "Don't worry about it for now."

TTTTT

"Robin, come out here," Slade called from the other room. Robin was currently in his room, or "walk-in closet" (depending on the mood he was in), completing his homework when Slade called him. The assignment was a tough one, since the HIVE science instructor decided he and Gizmo needed an extra challenge. The problem, for Robin, was that without Gizmo's help Robin couldn't understand this level of science. Sure, he was above the skill levels of the rest of his class, but this assignment needed Gizmo's expertise.

As much as Robin felt he needed a friend, he knew Gizmo wouldn't be good for him.

"What do you need?" Robin said, standing in the doorway to Slade's room. Slade was working on his computer, using his fingers to tap the screen and bring up new documents. Something was obviously on the forefront of Slade's mind, and Robin tried to wait patiently until Slade turned to him.

"I will be leaving for a couple of weeks," Slade began, and Robin started. Slade would be gone? If so, Robin would have a chance to escape. And hide, since he knew that was what he needed to do to beat Slade. Robin couldn't beat Slade by fighting, the villain has already proven himself to be too good for Robin to even have a hope of beating him. Slade continued, "I expect you to be on your best behavior. You will attend your classes on time, obey the Headmistress, and train while on your own."

Slade stood up, and Robin found himself looking up into the man's eye as he asked, "Do you understand?"

"Yes," Robin said. He winced when he thought of his homework, and off-handedly commented, "but you won't like my grades this coming week. Barrage apparently believes that since I'm above a senior level I must be at nuclear scientist. I can't understand the questions, much less come up with the answers."

"You were doing well before," Slade said, his tone sounding concerned and interested. "What changed?"

"The skill level," Robin replied. "This really is for Gizmo, not me..."

Robin proceeded to explain to Slade how the homework assignment worked, and he couldn't help but be astonished when Slade sat him down at the desk and explained the steps he was missing. It took the rest of the night, but by the time Robin was finally sent to bed he was able to complete each problem.

It wasn't until he was lying in the dark and thinking about the tasks that he realized he hadn't even glanced at his other class's homework. Luckily, Slade wouldn't know, since he was leaving the next morning.

_It has been a long two weeks_, Robin thought, looking back. It had been a long four months, but at least now he would have time away from Slade to collect his thoughts.

If only he knew.

**A/N: Hey everybody. I'm sorry for the long wait! I didn't have time to update the chapter before I left on my vacation back in December (I don't know why I thought I would have the time to update in addition to packing for travel), and when I got back my computer was fried. It still is (it keeps turning off as I'm typing, but I save the changes every ten seconds so it's okay), but I finally figured out a way to get at least one more chapter up!**

**When I got back on my computer later (it shuts itself off constantly, but it has its good days), Microsoft Word was gone, and any documents saved using word could be opened in word, but I can't make changes to them. So I figured that without being able to make changes to the document, I was done for. Today, I remembered I can save the word document on this site, and make changes in the editing button! I lost all my formatting when I submitted the document, but I'm trying to fix that now.**

**Anyway, I do have chapter 9 mostly drafted from before my vacation, but it may be a while before I get it up because I need to either get a new computer or get my laptop fixed. Neither option is "necessary" right now, and I just don't have the resources to do it myself. Yikes!**

**So I haven't forgotten the story or given up (my favorite parts and the climax are already drafted), but there will be delays. Thanks for holding tight!**

**I always love the reviews, so thanks for them!**


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